Poetry · Chapter
Extracts from an Opera explained
This chapter presents a series of lyrical extracts from an opera, including songs and dramatic verses that explore themes of love, desire, folly, and anxiety.
What happens
This chapter presents a series of lyrical extracts from an opera, including songs and dramatic verses that explore themes of love, desire, folly, and anxiety. The pieces range from a wish to become one of the Olympian gods to enforce a law of love, to a daisy's boastful song, a folly song celebrating chaotic merriment, a fearful meditation on a beloved's imperfections, a narrative of a stranger's bold kisses, and a prayerful address to a sleeping beloved.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Loss
The verses explore the intensity of love, from adoration and prayer to fear of imperfection and separation.
Nature and Imagination
Imagery of the sun, moon, spring, lambs, and roses intertwines with imaginative flights of fancy and desire.
Mythology and Classical Reference
References to the Olympian twelve, Dian, and Juno ground the emotional content in classical myth.
Characters to notice
- Daisy
Speaker of 'Daisy’s Song', boasting of seeing more than the sun and moon.
- Unknown
Speaker in 'O! Were I One of the Olympian Twelve' and 'Oh, I Am Frighten’d with Most Hateful Thoughts!' expressing longing and anxiety.
- Dian
Mentioned in 'Oh, I Am Frighten’d with Most Hateful Thoughts!' as having legs that might be crumpled.
Key passages
“O! were I one of the Olympian twelve, Their godships should pass this into a law,— That when a man doth set himself in toil After some beauty veiled far away, Each step he took should make his lady’s hand More soft, more white, and her fair cheek more fair.”
If I were a god, I would decree that every step a man takes toward a distant beloved makes her more beautiful.
Expresses a wish for a magical law of love that rewards effort with increasing beauty.
“The sun, with his great eye, Sees not so much as I; And the moon, all silver-proud, Might as well be in a cloud.”
The daisy claims to see more than the sun or moon, boasting of its intimate view of the world.
A playful assertion of the daisy's privileged perspective.
“Oh, I am frighten’d with most hateful thoughts! Perhaps her voice is not a nightingale’s, Perhaps her teeth are not the fairest pearl;”
I am terrified by the possibility that my beloved is not as perfect as I imagine—her voice, teeth, and other features may be flawed.
Reveals the speaker's anxiety about idealizing the beloved and the fear of reality.
“The stranger lighted from his steed, And ere he spake a word, He seiz’d my lady’s lily hand, And kiss’d it all unheard.”
A stranger dismounts and silently kisses the lady's hand, then later her lips, and finally leads her into a bower.
A narrative of bold, silent seduction by a stranger.
“Asleep! O sleep a little while, white pearl And let me kneel, and let me pray to thee, And let me call Heaven’s blessing on thine eyes, And let me breathe into the happy air, That doth enfold and touch thee all about, Vows or my slavery, my giving up, My sudden adoration, my great love!”
While she sleeps, he kneels and prays, vowing his adoration and devotion to her.
A prayerful declaration of love and worship directed at the sleeping beloved.