Poetry · Chapter
VI: The Woman Whom Satan Had Bound explained
The poem describes a woman who has been bound and bowed for eighteen years, patient and sorrowful, until a divine presence speaks to her with tenderness and strength.
What happens
The poem describes a woman who has been bound and bowed for eighteen years, patient and sorrowful, until a divine presence speaks to her with tenderness and strength. She rises slowly and firmly, her will empowered, and bends in gratitude to the living Law that restores her. The speaker then addresses the Lord as the uplifter of the down-bent head and unbinder of the bound, expressing hope that He will heal all ills and that the speaker, too, will be healed by the Lord's best cure.
Themes in this chapter
Redemption and Grace
The woman's healing and restoration symbolize divine grace and redemption from long-term suffering.
Suffering and Purification
The woman's eighteen years of patient suffering and her eventual healing reflect purification through affliction.
Love as Ultimate Strength
The tenderness of the divine healer's hands and the empowering love that enables the woman to rise.
Characters to notice
- The Woman Who Came Behind Him in the Crowd
The central figure of the poem, bound by Satan for eighteen years, patient and bowed, who is healed and rises.
- Jesus Christ
Implied as the divine healer who speaks to the woman, uplifts the down-bent head, and unbinds the bound.
- Satan
Referenced in the title as the one who bound the woman for eighteen years.
- Unknown
The speaker who observes the woman's healing and prays for personal healing, expressing hope and endurance.
Key passages
“For years eighteen she, patient soul, Her eyes had graveward sent; Her earthly life was lapt in dole, She was so bowed and bent.”
For eighteen years, she patiently looked toward the grave, her life wrapped in sorrow, bent and bowed.
Describes the woman's long-term suffering and physical deformity.
“Uplifter of the down-bent head! Unbinder of the bound! Who seest all the burdened Who only see the ground!”
You who lift the bowed head and free the bound, you see all the burdened who can only look at the ground.
Addresses the divine healer who sees and helps those who are too burdened to look up.
“I think thou, Lord, wilt heal me too, Whate'er the needful cure; The great best only thou wilt do, And hoping I endure.”
I believe you, Lord, will heal me as well, whatever the necessary cure; you will only do the greatest good, and I endure with hope.
The speaker expresses personal faith in divine healing and endurance through hope.