Poetry · Chapter
Phèdre explained
The poem laments that Sarah Bernhardt, a figure of extraordinary grace and artistry, seems misplaced in the mundane modern world, suggesting she belongs instead among the classical and mythological realms of Florence, the Academe, and Phaea
What happens
The poem laments that Sarah Bernhardt, a figure of extraordinary grace and artistry, seems misplaced in the mundane modern world, suggesting she belongs instead among the classical and mythological realms of Florence, the Academe, and Phaeacia. It imagines her as a reincarnated spirit from an ancient Attic urn, returned to a dull world after tiring of the joyless afterlife.
Themes in this chapter
Classical Mythology and Antiquity
The poem is steeped in classical references, including the Academe, Phaeacia, Odysseus, Pan, and the underworld of asphodel.
Transience and Mortality
The poem reflects on the weariness of the afterlife and the return to a dull, mortal world, emphasizing the fleeting nature of existence.
Characters to notice
- Grave Odysseus
Mentioned as waking from his dream in the Phaeacian glade.
- Pan
Referenced as Goat-foot Pan with his shrill piping.
Key passages
“How vain and dull this common world must seem To such a One as thou, who should’st have talked At Florence with Mirandola, or walked Through the cool olives of the Academe”
The ordinary world must appear empty and boring to someone like you, who ought to have conversed with Pico della Mirandola in Florence or strolled through the shaded olive groves of the Academy.
Expresses the idea that Sarah Bernhardt's spirit is too refined for the modern world.
“Ah! surely once some urn of Attic clay Held thy wan dust, and thou hast come again Back to this common world so dull and vain”
Surely your pale ashes were once stored in an ancient Greek urn, and you have returned to this ordinary, empty world.
Suggests reincarnation or a classical origin for the subject.
“For thou wert weary of the sunless day, The heavy fields of scentless asphodel, The loveless lips with which men kiss in Hell.”
Because you grew tired of the dark, sunless afterlife, the oppressive fields of odorless asphodel, and the affectionless kisses exchanged in the underworld.
Describes the dreariness of the classical underworld as a motivation for return.