Poetry · Chapter
Canto III explained
Dymer wakes in a mysterious house after a night of love, but when he tries to find his beloved, he finds an old woman blocking every entrance.
What happens
Dymer wakes in a mysterious house after a night of love, but when he tries to find his beloved, he finds an old woman blocking every entrance. He pleads, then threatens, then breaks down, but she remains immovable. Finally he forces his way past her, only to be struck down and left wandering in a storm.
Themes in this chapter
Rebellion and Individualism
Dymer declares himself 'the breaker of bad laws' and 'the sword of spring,' asserting his new freedom against the old woman's silent authority.
Illusion vs. Reality
Dymer's high mood shatters as he realizes the horror of the old woman is real and inescapable, contrasting his earlier dreamlike joy.
Mortality and Transience
Dymer reflects that 'no desire could keep these hours for always, and that men do die,' acknowledging the fleeting nature of his happiness.
Characters to notice
Key passages
“I am new born, new freed, and here new wed, That I might be the breaker of bad laws.”
I have been reborn, liberated, and married here so that I can defy unjust rules.
Dymer asserts his newfound identity as a rebel against the old order.
“The frost of old forbiddings breaks and thaws Wherever my feet fall. I bring to birth Under its crust the green, ungrudging earth.”
Where I walk, the frozen prohibitions melt away, and I give life to the fertile earth beneath.
Dymer sees himself as a force of renewal and liberation.
“He forced himself towards her and bent low For grappling. Then came darkness. Then a blow Fell on his heart, he thought. There came a blank Of all things. As the dead sink, down he sank.”
He lunged at her to fight, but then everything went dark, and he felt a blow to his heart, collapsing like a corpse.
Dymer's attempt to force his way past the old woman ends in a mysterious collapse.