A slumber did My spirit Seal (Poem)

Thinking about the Poem

Question 1 “A slumber did my spirit seal,” says the poet. That is, a deep sleep ‘closed off’ his soul (or mind). How does the poet react to his loved one’s death? Does he feel bitter grief ? Or does he feel a great peace?

Answer The poet was initially shocked on the death of his beloved. He was so deeply grieved and troubled by the death that he was numb. At the death of his loved one, the poet’s mind and soul are devoid of any human fears or sensations. However later he accepts the death and consoles himself with the fact that his beloved will be alive as a part of nature. In the end of the poem, he feels a great peace of mind.

Question 2 The passing of time will no longer affect her, says the poet. Which lines of the poem say this?

Answer The lines that suggest that the passing of the time will no longer affect the poet’s beloved are “She seemed a thing that could not feel, The touch of earthy years.”

Question 3 How does the poet imagine her to be, after death? Does he think of her as a person living in a very happy state (a ‘heaven’)? Or does he see her now as a part of nature? In which lines of the poem do you find your answer?

Answer According to the poet, Death has turned his loved one into a part of nature. He imagines her buried in the dirt, rolled by its everyday motions like other natural objects like stones, rocks, and trees. The poem’s concluding words, “Rolled round in earth’s diurnal motion, With rocks and stones and trees,” reveal the poet’s imagination.