Poetry · Chapter
Lines on the Mermaid Tavern explained
The speaker addresses the souls of deceased poets, questioning whether any paradise or Elysium they have known surpasses the joy and fellowship of the Mermaid Tavern.
What happens
The speaker addresses the souls of deceased poets, questioning whether any paradise or Elysium they have known surpasses the joy and fellowship of the Mermaid Tavern. He evokes the tavern's fine Canary wine, savory venison pies, and the legendary company of Robin Hood and Maid Marian, and recounts a tale of the tavern's sign flying away to be found in the Zodiac, where the poets continue their revelry.
Themes in this chapter
Art and Poetry
The poem celebrates the community of poets and the creative spirit, suggesting that the tavern's conviviality rivals any heavenly paradise.
Dreams and Escape
The vision of poets drinking in the Zodiac under a new-old sign evokes a dreamlike escape from earthly bounds into eternal revelry.
Characters to notice
- Unknown
The speaker who addresses the departed poets and celebrates the Mermaid Tavern.
- Robin Hood
Mentioned as a figure who would dine and drink at the tavern with his companion Maid Marian.
- Marian
Mentioned as Robin Hood's companion at the tavern feast.
Key passages
“Souls of Poets dead and gone, What Elysium have ye known, Happy field or mossy cavern, Choicer than the Mermaid Tavern?”
Spirits of deceased poets, what paradise or pleasant place have you found that is better than the Mermaid Tavern?
The speaker challenges the idea that any afterlife could surpass the joy of the tavern.
“I have heard that on a day Mine host’s sign-board flew away, Nobody knew whither, till An astrologer’s old quill To a sheepskin gave the story, Said he saw you in your glory, Underneath a new-old sign Sipping beverage divine, And pledging with contented smack The Mermaid in the Zodiac.”
I've heard that one day the tavern's sign flew off, and no one knew where it went until an astrologer wrote on parchment that he saw you poets in your splendor beneath a sign that was both new and old, drinking heavenly wine and toasting the Mermaid in the Zodiac.
This anecdote imagines the poets' spirits continuing their revelry among the stars.