Poetry · Chapter
An Example explained
A short poem about two deaf mutes who resolve to marry despite all warnings, advocating for maintaining silence and ignorance before and after marriage.
What happens
A short poem about two deaf mutes who resolve to marry despite all warnings, advocating for maintaining silence and ignorance before and after marriage.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Communication
The poem explores love between two deaf mutes, emphasizing a non-verbal bond and the ironic advice to remain 'deaf and dumb and blind' even after marriage.
Deception and Self-Deception
The advice to ignore warnings and maintain willful ignorance in marriage suggests a form of self-deception as a strategy for harmony.
Key passages
“Be deaf and dumb until wedded—and then Be deaf and dumb and blind.”
Remain silent and unhearing before marriage, and after marriage add blindness to that silence.
The final lines encapsulate the poem's ironic counsel to maintain ignorance in all stages of marriage.