# La Figlia Che Piange explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by T. S. Eliot.

## What happens

The speaker reflects on a scene of parting, imagining a woman standing on a stair, weaving sunlight in her hair, and then turning away with resentment. He contemplates the ideal, simple way a farewell might occur, but is haunted by the image of her grief and the autumn weather that compels his imagination. The poem ends with a sense of unresolved wonder and the persistence of memory.

## Themes in this chapter

### Memory and the Past

The speaker is compelled by the memory of the woman's gesture and the autumn weather, which haunts his imagination for many days and hours.

### Love and Unsatisfied Desire

The imagined parting and the speaker's longing for a simple, faithless farewell reflect unfulfilled romantic desire and the pain of separation.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown Narrator

The speaker who imagines and reflects on the scene of parting, grappling with memory and desire.

## Key lines

> Stand on the highest pavement of the stair— Lean on a garden urn— Weave, weave the sunlight in your hair—

Pose on the top step, rest against the garden urn, and intertwine the sunlight in your hair.

_The speaker directs the woman to adopt a picturesque stance, emphasizing artifice and memory._

> So I would have had him leave, So I would have had her stand and grieve, So he would have left As the soul leaves the body torn and bruised, As the mind deserts the body it has used.

I would have wanted him to depart, and her to remain in sorrow, his leaving as painful as the soul separating from a battered body or the mind abandoning its worn-out vessel.

_The speaker imagines an idealized, yet violent, separation, comparing it to the soul's departure from the body._

> I should find Some way incomparably light and deft, Some way we both should understand, Simple and faithless as a smile and shake of the hand.

I should discover a method incredibly graceful and subtle, one we both would comprehend, as simple and untrustworthy as a smile and a handshake.

_The speaker desires a parting that is effortless and devoid of deep commitment, yet acknowledges its faithlessness._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_21_se/chapters/la-figlia-che-piange
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_21_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_21_se/chapters