The child is not mine as the first was, I cannot sing it to rest, I cannot lift it up fatherly And bliss it upon my breast; Yet it lies in my little one's cradle And sits in my little one's chair, And the light of the heaven she's gone to Transfigures its golden hair.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The poet describes a child who has died, noting how its memory transforms everyday objects in the home into something sacred.
- In plain terms
- A deceased child's memory turns their ordinary things like a cradle into something holy.
- What can you take from it?
- Memory transforms ordinary objects into reminders of lost loved ones.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do you remember lost loved ones?
- Do objects hold memories for you?
Another view
Grief manifests differently and not always through objects.
More from James Russell Lowell
The Maple puts her corals on in May, While loitering frosts about the lowlands cling, To be in tune with what the robins sing.
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