Poetry · Chapter
II explained
The narrator reflects on the moonbeam's influence, suggesting it may be a sovereign force beyond ancient lore or merely an unembodied essence that passes over like dew.
What happens
The narrator reflects on the moonbeam's influence, suggesting it may be a sovereign force beyond ancient lore or merely an unembodied essence that passes over like dew.
Themes in this chapter
Madness and Terror
The narrator's mind is described as 'wrought to a fever,' suggesting a state of heightened, possibly maddened perception.
Dreams vs. Reality
The narrator wavers between believing the moonbeam's light is a sovereign reality or merely an unembodied essence, blurring the line between dream and truth.
Characters to notice
- Narrator
The speaker whose mind is wrought to a fever by the moonbeam.
Key passages
“Perhaps it may be that my mind is wrought To a fever by the moonbeam that hangs o’er”
Maybe my mind is feverishly affected by the moonbeam above.
The narrator suggests a possible mental disturbance caused by the moonlight.
“But I will half believe that wild light fraught With more of sovereignty than ancient lore Hath ever told”
Yet I am inclined to think that this wild light carries a power greater than any ancient story has described.
The narrator entertains the idea that the moonlight holds a sovereign, almost divine authority.
“or is it of a thought The unembodied essence, and no more That with a quickening spell doth o’er us pass As dew of the night-time, o’er the summer grass?”
Or is it merely the disembodied essence of a thought that passes over us like nighttime dew on summer grass?
The narrator questions whether the moonbeam's effect is just an intangible thought, fleeting and natural.