# Three Golden Threads explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ameen Rihani.

## What happens

The speaker expresses a desire to escape worldly cares like a swallow, but is bound by three golden threads representing the honeyed tongue, eyes, and lips of a beloved. Despite the pain of love, the speaker chooses to suffer rather than break these bonds.

## Themes in this chapter

### Desire and Restraint

The speaker is torn between the desire for freedom and the restraint imposed by the beloved's enchanting qualities.

### Suffering and Resilience

The speaker chooses to endure the pain of love rather than break the golden threads, highlighting resilience in suffering.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown Narrator

The speaker who longs to soar away but is fettered by love's golden threads.

## Key lines

> Like yonder swallow, I would soar away⁠— Above the sea, far from this buzzing mart; But how can I? A cruel, little fay Has fettered with three golden threads my heart.

I wish I could fly away like a swallow over the sea, away from the noisy marketplace, but I cannot because a mischievous fairy has bound my heart with three golden threads.

_The speaker's desire for escape is thwarted by the bonds of love._

> Ah, no! ’tis better that I die in pain Than break the golden threads of my poor heart.

No, it is preferable to die in agony than to sever the golden threads that bind my heart.

_The speaker chooses love's suffering over freedom._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_2_se/chapters/three-golden-threads
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_2_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_2_se/chapters