Line 1:
At this point the reader cannot know whether
this is a rhetorical question. The opening line might
seem to present an impossibility or an absurdity in
its attempt to define an abstract concept, love, by
mathematically adding up instances of it.
Lines 2-4:
Dealing in lofty and abstract ideas, the speaker
provides no image or symbol to make her love concrte
or easy to grasp. Since "Sonnet 43" appears second
to last in the cycle of sonnets, some critics have
justified these abstractions by referencing them to
other sonnets in the volume, arguing that the sonnets
must be read as an intertwined narrative to be
fully understood. Be that as it may, the abstractions
occuring at this point establish the largeness of her
love, maybe even making it beyond comprehension.
Several critics have pointed out that "the depth and
breadth and height" echoes Ephesians III 17-19,
where Saint Paul prays for comprehension of the
length, breadth, depth, and height of Christ s love
and the fullness of God. The terms "Depth, breadth,
and height" all refer to dimensions, and the speaker
specifies the condition of her soul at the time these
dimensions are largest: "when feeling out of sight."
Taken in context, the phrase probably describes a
soul that feels limitless. Other phrases can be decoded
to similarly spiritual expressions of love and
being, including "For the ends of Being"--death or
at least a bodily death-and "ideal Grace"-heaven.
Specific religious meanings for concepts like
"grace," "soul," and "being" are, however, far from
given, since the poem provdes a good deal of room
individual interpretation.
Lines 5-6:
Sun and candle-light are the first concrete images
we come across in this poem. The earthly time
frame these lines suggest, however, is still limitless
and all-encompassing; "by sun and candle-light"
refers to both day and night.
Lines 7-8:
The speaker s perspective narrows or even
"comes down to earth" a little, shifting from its
most religious tone to a focus on more apparently
secular human interests. She does, however, select
a particularly glorified image of humanity to identify
with her love, personifying it as men who are
both righteous and humble.
Lines 9-10:
The perspective contracts further-and provides
the sonnet s "tum." The speaker s very broad
and abstract view becomes concretely personal,
turning away from the limitlessness of religion or
the outside world to the within of her individual
past. Specifically, she describes her love such that
it changes the quality of grief, making that grief almost
welcome in retrospect. The word "passion,"
however, introduces several levels of meaing; most
significantly, it brings back the religious allusions
of lines two through four by recalling the passion
of Christ. The image of a childhood faith, distinct
from the speaker s current faith, suggests something
especially pure and innocent.
Lines 11-12:
It seems that romantic love rescues a lost religious
faith, or at least rescues the passion and impulse
the speaker used to feel for religious faith.
The "lost saints" can be read both literally and figuratively,
as the saints of the church, Christian
liturgy or ritual, or even people who once guided
the speaker-her own personal saints.
Lines 13-14:
"Smiles, tears, of all my life" echoes back to
"my old griefs" in line 10, and the speaker begins
the closure of the poem where she hopes to be able
to achieve an even greater love after death. With
humility, the speaker acknowledges that this desire
might not be within her power to satisfy.
المادة المعروضة اعلاه هي مدخل الى المحاضرة المرفوعة بواسطة استاذ(ة) المادة . وقد تبدو لك غير متكاملة . حيث يضع استاذ المادة في بعض الاحيان فقط الجزء الاول من المحاضرة من اجل الاطلاع على ما ستقوم بتحميله لاحقا . في نظام التعليم الالكتروني نوفر هذه الخدمة لكي نبقيك على اطلاع حول محتوى الملف الذي ستقوم بتحميله .
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