Poetry · Chapter
Ballade de Marguerite explained
A forester's son expresses his love for a lady of higher station, but is ultimately confronted with her death.
What happens
A forester's son expresses his love for a lady of higher station, but is ultimately confronted with her death. His mother tries to console him, but he is left questioning if there is room for him in her grave.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Loss
The speaker's unrequited or doomed love for Marguerite culminates in her death, leaving him grief-stricken and longing to join her.
Transience and Mortality
The sudden death of the young Marguerite and the imagery of white lilies and the bier underscore the fleeting nature of life and beauty.
Suffering and Redemption
The speaker's profound suffering over Marguerite's death and the mother's call to let the dead bury the dead suggest a struggle with grief and the possibility of spiritual solace.
Characters to notice
- Old Jeannette
Mentioned as the keeper of the hall who died at the autumn fall, but the speaker notes she did not have gold-brown hair, suggesting the deceased is actually Marguerite.
Key passages
“O mother, you know I loved her true: O mother, hath one grave room for two?”
The speaker asks his mother if he can be buried alongside his beloved Marguerite, unable to bear living without her.
This final couplet expresses the depth of the speaker's despair and his desire for union with his lost love in death.
“Come in, my son, and lie on the bed, And let the dead folk bury their dead.”
The mother urges her son to rest and accept that the dead must be left to the dead, a call to move on from his grief.
This reflects a common biblical or proverbial sentiment about accepting mortality and not dwelling on loss.