# XXIV: Silently She’s Combing explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by James Joyce.

## What happens

The narrator observes a beloved figure silently and gracefully combing her long hair in a sunlit, idyllic setting. He pleads with her to stop, warning that her enchanting beauty and careless airs have a bewitching power that confuses the lover's sense of presence and absence.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Longing

The lover's plea reveals a deep longing and the enchanting, almost magical hold the beloved has over him.

### Art and Creativity

The act of combing hair is depicted as a graceful, artistic performance, with 'pretty airs' and a 'looking-glass' evoking a painterly or theatrical scene.

## Character check-ins

### Narrator

The observer who speaks directly to the beloved, pleading for her to stop combing her hair.

### Beloved

The silent figure combing her long hair, whose beauty and grace are described as bewitching.

## Key lines

> Silently she’s combing, Combing her long hair, Silently and graciously, With many a pretty air.

She is quietly and elegantly brushing her long hair, performing the act with charming, graceful movements.

_Establishes the serene, almost ritualistic scene of the beloved at her toilette._

> I pray you, cease to comb out, Comb out your long hair, For I have heard of witchery Under a pretty air, That makes as one thing to the lover Staying and going hence, All fair, with many a pretty air And many a negligence.

I beg you to stop brushing your long hair, because I know that beneath such charming gestures lies a magic that blurs for the lover the difference between your presence and your absence, making everything seem beautiful yet careless.

_The narrator's direct plea reveals his fear of being enchanted and losing his sense of reality._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_11_se/chapters/xxiv-silently-she-s-combing
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_11_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_11_se/chapters