Poetry · Chapter
A Peasant's Song explained
A peasant laments a lost love, addressing a former beloved who has risen in status and left them behind.
What happens
A peasant laments a lost love, addressing a former beloved who has risen in status and left them behind. The speaker recalls past intimacy and devotion, expresses sorrow at their separation, and vows to remember the beloved through tokens like fallen rose leaves.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Loss
The poem is a direct expression of lost love, longing, and the pain of separation from a once-close beloved.
Exile and Belonging
The speaker feels exiled from the beloved's world, left behind in a lowly state while the beloved grows greater and free.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The peasant speaker who mourns a lost love and addresses the beloved from a lowly station.
Key passages
“O, thou, who loved me once, From thy Pagoda glance; Shoot down a poisoned lance: All's well that comes from thee.”
You who once loved me, even a harmful look from your high place is acceptable because it comes from you.
The speaker expresses that any attention from the beloved, even if cruel, is welcome.
“Remains my station low, Whilst thou dost greater grow; Ah, fate hath struck the blow That parted thee and me.”
I stay in my humble position while you rise in status; fate has separated us.
The speaker acknowledges the social divide and blames fate for the separation.
“Dost thou not still remember Love's May and Love's December? Both burned their sacred ember In our sweet company.”
Do you not recall both the spring and winter of our love, which both held sacred passion when we were together?
The speaker reminds the beloved of the enduring warmth of their past relationship through all seasons.