someone please tell me...
How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;
Labour and rest, that equal periods keep;
"Obedient slumbers that can wake and weep;"
Desires compos'd, affections ever ev'n,
Tears that delight, and sighs that waft to Heav'n.
Grace shines around her with serenest beams,
And whisp'ring angels prompt her golden dreams.
For her th' unfading rose of Eden blooms,
And wings of seraphs shed divine perfumes,
For her the Spouse prepares the bridal ring,
For her white virgins hymeneals sing,
To sounds of heav'nly harps she dies away,
And melts in visions of eternal day.
2006-12-25 15:43:51 · 3 answers · asked by alicia 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
"Eloisa" was really "Heloise".
She was/became a nun. Abelard a monk and a scholar of great reputation.
Their love is preserved in letters, but they never "did it", or anything sordid - to 'judge' them in the terms of their contemporaries.
"Vestal Virgins" were 'pagan' nuns in Ancient Rome, dedicated to the protection of the Sacred Flame of Vesta, Goddess of the 'Hearth'. It became a poetic term equal to 'nun'.
As she was away from the world, she was 'forgotten' and forgetting.
Think about the rest in terms of both of these. She was resigned to no marriage (except "to Christ") and spent her day in work and prayer, then went to bed.
As a nun, she was 'married to Christ' (the references to the ring and 'hymneals' were Roman prayers to "Hymen", the Goddessof Marriage), but according to Pope she still thinks of Abelard, if you read the whole thing.
2006-12-25 16:13:24 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just from a quick glance it seems like someone who never feels guilt or suffers sadness. There are a good deal of purity images: "eternal sunshine of the spotless mind" "tears that delight" (no sadness) "unfading rose" "the white virgins" and "eternal day".
I'm not sure if someone is dying without realizing her impeding fate, but I can also see that, mainly in the final couplet.
2006-12-25 23:56:06 · answer #2 · answered by parrotsandgrog 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To understand Pope... You have got to appreciate his timing, his humor, his unfortunate condition and the anger and spite that was often born of it.
In the case of This particualr piece... I believe that this was one of the only earnest attempts at praise for praise sake. Lest the Satire and utter and complete venom Pope was otherwise famous for.
Although in the original story itself, there lies a heavy casting of natural irony and unfortunate, sad, kinds of satire that considering the nature of the beast (Pope himself) he would have probably looked effectionately upon such a story for his own tastes and preferences ran throughout without even trying to be smug or smart or trite as it is a true story or actual occurances.
To understand His words, his view on this story. You should first start by actually reading the story of Helouise and Abelard yourself. Then read a few more things by Pope to see how these two entities would naturally meet and Pope would see this story as beautiful, ironic and terrible... in a beautiful, haunting captivating kind of manner.
This is a beautiful piece of poetry meant to give tribute and pay homage to the lives of two people captured in one of the better pieces of literature in history. French or American...
If you're lazy... Rent the movie.
It is called "Stealing Heaven." and it was the first movie ever made with full frontal male nudity and a live, graphic, sex scenes that could have been, but were not considered pornographic in a movie for it's artistic merit!
It is a great movie!
It would take forever to explain each verse line by line...
The basic gist of it is this:
It has very deep religious undertones... Helouise was sent to a convent to protect the life of her infant son given to Abelards sister to raise as her own to spare a young unmarried girl the embarassment of having become pregnant by a priest, and it was said that She and Abelard, frequently thought of one another and remained in love until the day they died even though they both promised each other to God in the form of a priest and a nun. It is a long story... But knowing that, may help you understand what all this means?
2006-12-26 02:03:22 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋