# Canzonet explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Oscar Wilde.

## What happens

A pastoral love song that contrasts the speaker's lack of material wealth with the beauty of nature and classical mythology, invoking figures like Hyacinth, Pan, Hylas, and dryads to evoke a sense of loss and the fleeting nature of youth and love.

## Themes in this chapter

### Classical Mythology and Antiquity

The poem is steeped in classical references: Hyacinth, Pan, Hylas, Faun, and dryads, evoking a lost mythological world.

### Transience and Mortality

The repeated deaths of mythological figures (Hyacinth, Hylas) and the fading of the season ('sad autumn day') underscore the theme of impermanence.

## Character check-ins

### Young Hylas

Mentioned as dead, his lips compared to rose-petals.

### Pan

Invoked as absent, no longer present in the landscape.

### Faun

Referenced as no longer treading the leas.

### The Dryads

Mentioned as ivory dryads who no longer play on the hill.

## Key lines

> I have no store Of gryphon-guarded gold;

I possess no treasure protected by mythical beasts.

_The speaker declares his lack of material wealth._

> Young Hyacinth is slain, Pan is not here, And will not come again.

The youth Hyacinth has died, and the god Pan is absent forever.

_Invokes the death of Hyacinth and the permanent departure of Pan._

> Hylas is dead, Nor will he e'er divine Those little red Rose-petalled lips of thine.

Hylas is dead and will never again admire your rose-like lips.

_Connects the death of Hylas to the beloved's beauty._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/canzonet
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_18_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters