Poetry · Chapter
Her Lover's Step explained
A poem tracing a woman's life from maidenhood to death, centered on the sound of her lover's footsteps—first as a beloved suitor, then as a husband, and finally as a memory after his death.
What happens
A poem tracing a woman's life from maidenhood to death, centered on the sound of her lover's footsteps—first as a beloved suitor, then as a husband, and finally as a memory after his death. In her final moments, she hears his steps again, guiding her through death.
Themes in this chapter
Mortality and Loss
The poem centers on the death of the husband and the wife's subsequent grief, culminating in her own death and spiritual reunion.
Moral Lessons and Domestic Virtue
The wife's unwavering faithfulness and the portrayal of marriage as a sacred bond reinforce domestic virtue and moral steadfastness.
Characters to notice
- Mary Crosby
The poem's subject, a woman who experiences love, marriage, loss, and death, all marked by the sound of her lover's footsteps.
Key passages
“Step, step, step, ’tis her lover’s walk, She knows his step as well’s his talk; He is the favorite of her choice, So his step’s familiar as his voice.”
The woman recognizes her lover's footsteps as easily as his voice, indicating deep intimacy.
Establishes the central motif of footsteps as a symbol of connection.
“But he the husband and yet lover, His steps at last do cease forever; And she doth soon hear the tread Of men who do bear out the dead.”
The husband dies, and soon she hears the footsteps of men carrying his body away.
Marks the turning point from life to loss.
“Pain and suffering all are past, She joyous cried he’s come at last; And soon she breathes out her last breath, He guides her through the vale of death.”
In her final moment, she joyfully sees her husband, who leads her through death.
Climax of the poem, blending grief with spiritual consolation.