Poetry · Chapter
Serenade explained
A lover pleads with his lady to join him on a Tyrian galley bound for Troy, but she remains unmoved.
What happens
A lover pleads with his lady to join him on a Tyrian galley bound for Troy, but she remains unmoved. He laments her cruelty and his unrequited love, yet ultimately believes he sees her golden hair and lily hand, urging his crew to sail for Troy with his beloved.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Loss
The speaker's unrequited love and the pain of loving in vain are central to the poem.
Classical Mythology and Antiquity
References to the Aegean sea, Troy, Tyrian galley, and Grecian shore situate the poem in a classical mythological context.
Characters to notice
Key passages
“The western wind is blowing fair Across the dark Aegean sea, And at the secret marble stair My Tyrian galley waits for thee.”
The favorable west wind blows over the dark Aegean, and my Phoenician ship is waiting for you at the hidden marble steps.
Sets the scene of a lover's secret departure.
“True love is but a woman’s toy, They never know the lover’s pain, And I who loved as loves a boy Must love in vain, must love in vain.”
Women treat true love as a plaything and do not understand a lover's suffering, so I, who loves with youthful passion, am doomed to love without return.
Expresses the speaker's bitterness and resignation.
“O noble pilot, steer for Troy, Good sailor, ply the labouring oar, This is the Queen of life and joy Whom we must bear from Grecian shore!”
Captain, set course for Troy; sailors, row hard—this is the queen of happiness and vitality whom we must take away from Greece.
The speaker commands the crew to sail for Troy with his beloved, whom he calls the queen of life and joy.