What is the meaning of this poem by w.b. Yeats?

Question

Here is the poem:

The Sorrow of Love

The brawling of a sparrow in the eaves,
The brilliant moon and all the milky sky,
And all that famous harmony of leaves,
Had blotted out man's image and his cry.

A girl arose that had red mournful lips
And seemed the greatness of the world in tears,
Doomed like Odysseus and the labouring ships
And proud as Priam murdered with his peers;

Arose, and on that instant clamorous eaves,
And all that lamentation of the leaves,
Could but compose man's image and his cry.

Particularly, I am curious about what is "man's image and his cry"? Why are the woman's lips "mournful"? And how does she "seemed the greatness of the world in tears"?

Any comment will be appreciated. It's for a modern poetry class.

Thank you.

Answer 1

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Here's one:

The poem follows a loose narrative. In the first stanza, natural images overshadow the sorrow of humankind. In the second, a figure with "red mournful lips" arises, seeming to carry with her the weight of epic tragedy. She moves into the natural world, and the images that seemed sufficient in themselves - the sparrow, the moon - now express the infinite sadness of human misery.

Analysis
This poem was written in 1891, only two years after Yeats met and fell in love with Maud Gonne. Yeats uses two classical allusions in the highly structured poem, one comparing the woman's doom to Odysseus, who helped in the expedition to recover Helen when Paris took her from Sparta. He only returned after ten years. "Proud as Priam" refers to Paris's father, who was killed by Achilles's son, Neoptolemus, after the fall of Troy.


Before the woman's presence in this poem, the world exists apart from humankind. It's natural beauty and struggle "blot out" the more complicated struggles of humankind. The influence of the mournful woman, though, invites human meaning into the poem. First, the woman inspires the poet with epic comparisons; then, when she moves out into nature, she recasts the moon, sparrow and leaves in terms of human sorrow.

Yeats thus suggests the inspiring, albeit sorrowful, nature of love - both in terms of a particular beloved and in terms of the feminine in general. The beautiful woman does not "compose" the natural elements around her, but her influence renders them incapable of expressing any meaning other than that of humankind. Whether the woman stands for Ireland, for Maud Gonne, or for the spirit of the feminine, she redefines the force of the world, focusing it into an expression of human sorrow.

Answer 2

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RE:
What is the meaning of this poem by w.b. Yeats?
Here is the poem:

The Sorrow of Love

The brawling of a sparrow in the eaves,
The brilliant moon and all the milky sky,
And all that famous harmony of leaves,
Had blotted out man's image and his cry.

A girl arose that had red mournful lips
And seemed the greatness of the world in...

Answer 3

The Sorrow Of Love Yeats

Answer 4

What I take away from this poem is that Yeats and his lover broke up somehow. Yet they loved each other deeply. They both felt the world around them as described in the poem. A lost love has devastating effect on certain people; the beauty of the world did not appeal to the girl at her state of mind. Love makes one see the world in "la vie en rose". I feel that way about love.

Answer 5

Muppet

Answer 6

The same question comes up again

Answer 7

Your daughter should be capable of doing her own homework.