Poetry · Chapter
Athanasia explained
A poem about an Egyptian mummy discovered with a seed in her hand, which when planted in England grows into a wondrous, eternal flower that captivates all of nature, contrasting the flower's immortality with humanity's mortal and sorrowful
What happens
A poem about an Egyptian mummy discovered with a seed in her hand, which when planted in England grows into a wondrous, eternal flower that captivates all of nature, contrasting the flower's immortality with humanity's mortal and sorrowful existence.
Themes in this chapter
Transience and Mortality
Contrasts the eternal flower with human life, which is subject to decay, fear, and death.
Beauty and Aesthetics
The flower's extraordinary beauty outshines natural elements like the asphodel, lily, and narcissus.
Nature and the Seasons
Rich imagery of nature including the nightingale, dove, bee, and seasonal changes.
Characters to notice
- Narcissus
Mentioned as the sad narcissus, wan and white at its own beauty, hung across the stream.
Key passages
“To that gaunt House of Art which lacks for naught Of all the great things men have saved from Time, The withered body of a girl was brought Dead ere the world’s glad youth had touched its prime”
A mummified girl, dead before her prime, was brought to a museum that holds humanity's greatest treasures preserved from time.
Introduces the mummy and the setting of a museum or collection of antiquities.
“A little seed, which sown in English ground Did wondrous snow of starry blossoms bear And spread rich odours through our spring-tide air.”
The seed found in the mummy's hand, when planted in England, grew into a beautiful flower with star-like white blossoms and a rich fragrance.
The miraculous transformation of the ancient seed into a living flower.
“We mar our lordly strength in barren strife With the world’s legions led by clamorous care, It never feels decay but gathers life From the pure sunlight and the supreme air, We live beneath Time’s wasting sovereignty, It is the child of all eternity.”
Humans waste their strength in futile struggles with worldly cares, while the flower never decays and draws life from sunlight and air; we are subject to time's decay, but the flower is eternal.
Final contrast between mortal human existence and the flower's immortality.