Poetry · Chapter

IX: Winds of May, That Dance on the Sea explained

The narrator addresses the winds of May, asking if they have seen their true love, and laments that love is unhappy when separated from the beloved.

What happens

The narrator addresses the winds of May, asking if they have seen their true love, and laments that love is unhappy when separated from the beloved.

Love and Longing
The central theme of the chapter: the narrator's yearning for the absent beloved and the sorrow of separation.
Nature and Mood
The winds of May are personified and used to reflect the narrator's emotional state of longing and melancholy.

Narrator
The speaker who calls out to the winds and expresses longing for the beloved.
Beloved
The absent true love whom the narrator seeks.
Love
Personified as unhappy when away from the beloved.

“Winds of May, that dance on the sea, Dancing a ring-around in glee From furrow to furrow, while overhead The foam flies up to be garlanded, In silvery arches spanning the air, Saw you my true love anywhere?”
The playful May winds, dancing over the sea and creating foam arches, are asked if they have seen the narrator's beloved.
The narrator appeals to the natural world for news of the absent love.
“Welladay! Welladay! For the winds of May! Love is unhappy when love is away!”
Alas! The winds of May bring sorrow because love is miserable when separated from the beloved.
The refrain emphasizes the pain of separation and the personification of Love as a suffering entity.