Poetry · Chapter
The Dead Hand explained
A witch lady finds a dead man's hand on the seashore and tries to steal a ring from it, but the dead hand closes around hers, holding her fast as the tide rises and drowns her, while the bride sails away with her true love.
What happens
A witch lady finds a dead man's hand on the seashore and tries to steal a ring from it, but the dead hand closes around hers, holding her fast as the tide rises and drowns her, while the bride sails away with her true love.
Themes in this chapter
Suffering and Purification
The witch lady's drowning serves as a purifying punishment for her greed and wickedness.
Love as Ultimate Strength
The true love of the bride and her beloved triumphs over the witch's malice, symbolized by their safe voyage.
Characters to notice
- The Witch Lady
The antagonist who attempts to steal a ring from a dead man's hand and is ultimately drowned.
- Death
The dead man whose hand closes around the witch lady, embodying the inescapable grip of death.
- The Bride
The true love who sails away with her beloved while the witch meets her fate.
Key passages
“She took the dead hand in the live, And at the ring drew she; The dead hand closed its fingers five, And it held the witch lady.”
She grabbed the dead hand with her living one and tried to pull off the ring, but the dead hand clenched its fingers and trapped her.
The moment of supernatural entrapment, where the dead man's hand retaliates against the witch's theft.
“Oh, the heart of the dead and the hand of the dead Are strong hasps they to hold! Fled the true dove with the kite’s new love, And left the false kite with the old.”
The dead man's heart and hand are like powerful locks that cannot be escaped; the faithful dove escaped with the kite's new love, leaving the deceitful kite with the old one.
The moral conclusion, contrasting the faithful bride (true dove) with the witch (false kite), who is left to perish.