This poem is one that I found to be very cute. Some may disagree with me and find it disturbing, but it depends on how one views life. to emphasize, the poem is about a little girl who is part of a family with seven children. Two are away at sea, two are at a seaport, and the other two have died and are buried in the church yard. She tells this to the narrator and he tries to argue that there are only five of them because two are dead. In lines 35-36, the narrator says "If two are in the church-yard laid, Then ye are only five." When the narrator says these lines, I interpret as the narrator not felling the emotional side to death. He reduces it to a simple case of subtraction. In my opinion this shows that he is not as deeply emotional about death as others may be.
The little girl in the story is unwilling to relent to the narrator and his idea that there are only five of them. In line 37 she says "Their graves are green, they may be seen." My interpretation of this line was that the little girl still views them as being alive in a way because the grass is green. Out of their deaths, new life is able to spring. So the little girl has the view that people never fully die and are still present with us in a way. Opinions on the little girl will vary from sweet to disturbing. This is interesting to me because this poem was written in the 1700s but the idea is still prevalent today. It is not uncommon to hear someone talk about a loved one as still being with them. They may not be there physically, but spiritually the loved one is looking over everyone.
Also, what I found cute about the little girl is that she is unwilling to give up what she believes in and stands up to the narrator. In line 64 shes says "O Master! we are seven." She says this very adamantly and even reiterates it at the end of the poem. The little girl is stubborn and no matter what the narrator says, the "we" is unbreakable in the little girls eye. No matter how much time passes and what happens, the little girl and her siblings will always be seven.
I agree that one of the narrator's problems is his mathematical reductionism. As you say, he doesn't feel the "the emotional side to death" but instead "reduces it to a simple case of subtraction."
ReplyDeleteBy the way, you don't have to say "my interpretation" or "I interpret." It's assumed that's what you're doing, here.
I wonder if "cute" is really the right word for this little girl and for this poem?
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