Poetry · Chapter
Beauty That Is Never Old explained
The speaker finds solace and enduring beauty in the arms and eyes of a beloved, contrasting the harshness of life's storms with the constant, gentle light of love.
What happens
The speaker finds solace and enduring beauty in the arms and eyes of a beloved, contrasting the harshness of life's storms with the constant, gentle light of love.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Beauty
The poem celebrates love as an eternal refuge and the only beauty that never fades.
Resilience and Hope
Amid life's buffeting and blight, the beloved's presence provides a steadfast haven and light.
Key passages
“When buffeted and beaten by life’s storms, When by the bitter cares of life oppressed, I want no surer haven than your arms, I want no sweeter heaven than your breast.”
When life's hardships and worries overwhelm me, I find my safest refuge and most comforting peace in your embrace.
The speaker expresses that the beloved's arms are a haven and heaven against life's storms.
“The world, for me, and all the world can hold Is circled by your arms; for me there lies, Within the lights and shadows of your eyes, The only beauty that is never old.”
Everything the world contains is encompassed by your embrace, and in the changing expressions of your eyes I find the one beauty that never ages.
The speaker declares that the beloved's love and gaze hold the only timeless beauty.