Poetry · Chapter
Going East explained
A poem about a young bride who moves from the East to the West with her husband, enduring years of toil and sacrifice as he builds his fortune.
What happens
A poem about a young bride who moves from the East to the West with her husband, enduring years of toil and sacrifice as he builds his fortune. She longs for her old home and mother, but her strength fades, and she dies, leaving her husband alone with her body being sent back East.
Themes in this chapter
Motherhood and Family
The bride's longing for her mother and the emotional bonds of family are central to her suffering.
Resilience and Sacrifice
The bride endures years of toil and deferred hope, sacrificing her health for her husband's ambition.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The narrator tells the story of the bride's life and death.
- Father
The husband who builds a fortune but neglects his wife's emotional needs.
- Mary
The bride who longs for her mother and home in the East.
Key passages
“He had no line to sound the depths / Of her tears repressed and unshed; / Nor dreamed ’mid plenty a human heart / Could be starving, but not for bread.”
He could not understand her hidden sorrow or realize that a person can feel emotionally starved even when materially wealthy.
Highlights the theme of emotional neglect and the contrast between material wealth and inner emptiness.
“The hungry heart was stilled at last; / Its restless, baffled yearning ceased. / A lonely man sat by the bier / Of a corpse that was going East.”
Her longing finally ended in death, and her husband sat alone beside her body as it was transported back to the East she had missed.
Closure of the poem, emphasizing the tragic outcome of her unfulfilled desire to return home.