Poetry · Chapter
That Girl's Clear Eyes explained
The speaker reflects on a girl whose clear eyes conceal everything, yet hint at something hidden.
What happens
The speaker reflects on a girl whose clear eyes conceal everything, yet hint at something hidden. The speaker compares their own eyes to a seal that will not be broken until after death. The chapter describes a morning where everyone remains silent despite many words, sealed like tombs. The speaker admits that all they cared for was the pleasure and pain experienced in a stony sunlit square, dark cloisters, or shade of plane trees, while music blazed and children marched past, hiding the year 'Seventeen Thirty-Nine.'
Themes in this chapter
Solitude and Reflection
The speaker's introspective admission of caring only for personal pleasure and pain, and the sealed, silent communication among individuals.
Memory and Time
The contrast between the present moment and the historical year 'Seventeen Thirty-Nine,' suggesting a layered sense of time and memory.
Characters to notice
- Unknown
The speaker who observes the girl's clear eyes and reflects on their own sealed nature.
- That Girl's Clear Eyes
The girl whose clear eyes conceal everything, yet reveal that there is something to conceal.
Key passages
“That girl’s clear eyes utterly concealed all Except that there was something to reveal.”
The girl's transparent eyes hid everything, except for the fact that there was something hidden.
The paradox of concealment and revelation is introduced.
“They are but as a seal Not to be broken till after I am dead; And then vainly.”
My eyes are like a seal that will only be broken after my death, and even then it will be futile.
The speaker emphasizes the permanence of their hidden thoughts.
“Every one of us This morning at our tasks left nothing said, In spite of many words. We were sealed thus, Like tombs.”
Everyone this morning remained silent despite speaking many words; we were sealed like tombs.
The theme of silent communication and hidden inner lives is highlighted.
“All I cared for was the pleasure and pain I tasted in the stony square sunlit, Or the dark cloisters, or shade of airy plane, While music blazed and children, line after line, Marched past, hiding the 'Seventeen Thirty-Nine.'”
All I valued was the joy and sorrow I experienced in the sunny stone square, the dark cloisters, or the shade of plane trees, while loud music played and children marched in lines, obscuring the year 1739.
The speaker reveals their focus on personal sensory experiences over historical events.