Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings! Today’s blog post is an analysis of The Two Children by Emily Bronte. The Two Children is one of my all-time favorite poems by Emily Bronte, as you can easily see the echoes of what would become Wuthering Heights later! This will be a stanza-by-stanza analysis of this poem, with the bold and all-caps sections being my analysis. I accessed the text of the poem at https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/52331/the-two-children.
The Two Children
BY EMILY BRONTË
Heavy hangs the raindrop
From the burdened spray;
Heavy broods the damp mist
On uplands far away;
~THIS OPENING STANZA BEGINS TO SET A VERY LOVELY SCENE OF OUTDOOR BEAUTY.
Heavy looms the dull sky,
Heavy rolls the sea—
And heavy beats the young heart
Beneath that lonely tree.
~THE SECOND STANZA SETS THE TONE OF THE EMOTIONAL CORE OF THE POEM, WITH HEAVY FEELINGS AND LONGING BEGINNING TO BE SHOWN.
Never has a blue streak
Cleft the clouds since morn—
Never has his grim Fate
Smiled since he was born.
~THE THIRD STANZA FULLY INTRODUCES THE BOY, THE FIRST OF THE TWO CHILDREN OF THE TITLE. THIS IS WHERE WE LEARN THAT HE HAS HAD AN UNHAPPY LIFE, AND WILL LIKELY HAVE A SAD FATE.
Frowning on the infant,
Shadowing childhood’s joy,
Guardian angel knows not
That melancholy boy.
~THE FOURTH STANZA GIVES US INSIGHT INTO THE MELANCOLIC ENERGY OF THE BOY, WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT HE HAS HAD A VERY SAD CHILDHOOD AND IS WITHOUT A PROTECTOR.
Day is passing swiftly
Its sad and sombre prime;
Youth is fast invading
Sterner manhood’s time.
~THE FIFTH STANZA BEGINS TO DISCUSS MATURING INTO ADULTHOOD, WHERE THE BOY HAS TO BECOME A MAN, LIKELY WITHOUT MUCH GUIDANCE ON HOW TO BE AN ADULT.
All the flowers are praying
For sun before they close,
And he prays too, unknowing,
That sunless human rose!
~THE SIXTH STANZA ELABORATES THAT THE BOY DEEPLY WANTS TO FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL ACCEPT HIM, SOMEONE WHO WILL BE THE SUN TO SEED NEW LIFE INTO HIS SAD EXISTENCE.
Blossoms, that the west wind
Has never wooed to blow,
Scentless are your petals,
Your dew as cold as snow.
~THE SEVENTH STANZA SHOWS THAT THE BOY IS BEGINNING TO LOSE HOPE OF HAVING HIS LONELINESS ASSUAGED.
Soul, where kindred kindness
No early promise woke,
Barren is your beauty
As weed upon the rock.
~THE EIGHTH STANZA SHOWS QUITE A HOPELESS FIGURE, AS THE BOY HAS BECOME. WE CAN ASSUME THAT HE IS AN ADULT NOW, AND IS MORE DEEPLY LONELY THAN EVER BEFORE.
Wither, Brothers, wither,
You were vainly given—
Earth reserves no blessing
For the unblessed of Heaven!
~THE NINTH STANZA SHOWS THE BOY FEELING UTTERLY HOPELESS AND WITHERING IN DESPAIR, AND THERE IS A FEELING THAT HE WILL NEVER HAVE ANY BLESSINGS.
Child of Delight! with sunbright hair,
And seablue, seadeep eyes;
Spirit of Bliss, what brings thee here,
Beneath these sullen skies?
~THE TENTH STANZA IS WHERE THE POEM BEGINS TO TAKE A TURN, WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF THE GIRL, THE OTHER OF THE TWO CHILDREN. SHE PRESENTS A RAY OF HOPE WITH HER ‘SUNBRIGHT HAIR’!
Thou shouldst live in eternal spring,
Where endless day is never dim;
Why, seraph, has thy erring wing
Borne thee down to weep with him?
~THE ELEVENTH STANZA IS ABOUT THE GIRL COMING TO THE BOY TO SUPPORT HIM IN HIS DESPAIR, UPLIFTING HIM TO GIVE HIM HOPE! SHE IS COMPARED TO AN ANGEL OF ETERNAL SPRING WHO SELFLESSLY IS AIDING THIS BOY.
“Ah, not from heaven am I descended,
And I do not come to mingle tears;
But sweet is day, though with shadows blended;
And, though clouded, sweet are youthful years.
~THE TWELFTH STANZA HAS THE GIRL STATING THAT SHE IS NOT AN ANGEL, AND REASSURING THE BOY THAT HE IS WORTH THE LOVE SHE HAS SHOWN HIM!
“I, the image of light and gladness,
Saw and pitied that mournful boy,
And I swore to take his gloomy sadness,
And give to him my beamy joy.
~THE THIRTEENTH STANZA HAS THE GIRL ATTESTING THAT SHE PITIED THE MELANCHOLY SADNESS OF THE BOY, WANTING TO SHARE HER ‘BEAMY JOY’ WITH HIM!
“Heavy and dark the night is closing;
Heavy and dark may its biding be:
Better for all from grief reposing,
And better for all who watch like me.
~THE FOURTEENTH STANZA HAS THE GIRL ATTESTING THAT SHE GRIEVES FOR THE TRAGEDY OF THE BOY AND FEELS THE HEAVY AND DARK ENERGY OF HIS TURMOIL.
“Guardian angel, he lacks no longer;
Evil fortune he need not fear:
Fate is strong, but Love is stronger;
And more unsleeping than angel’s care.”
~THE FINAL STANZA SHOWS THAT THE GIRL’S LOVE FOR THE BOY CAN ACT AS A GUARDIAN ANGEL TO PROTECT THE BOY, AS LOVE IS TRULY STRONGER THAN ANY MISFORTUNE. A TRULY COMFORTING NOTE TO END THE POEM ON, WITH THE BOY BEING HEALED BY THE LOVE OF THE GIRL!
~I hope you have enjoyed this analysis. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
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