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I was wondering if you had a resource that would give some insight into the

poem of one of our pieces we're singing.


I have searched in vain for an analysis of this poem.
Thanks,
Roger

The Water Lady


by Thomas Hood
Alas! the moon should ever beam
To show what man should never see!
I saw a maiden on a stream,
And fair was she!
I staid a while, to see her throw
Her tresses back, that all beset
The fair horizon of her brow
With clouds of jet.
I staid a little while to view
Her cheek, that wore in place of red
The bloom of water, tender blue,
Daintily spread.
I staid to watch, a little space,
parted lips if she would sing
closed above her face

Her
The waters
With many a ring.

And still I staid a little more;


Alas! she never comes again!
my flowers from the shore,
in vain.

I throw
And watch

I know my life will fade away,


I know that I must vainly pine;
For I am made of mortal clay,
divine!

Roger,

But she's

I looked in several anthologies that thoroughly cover 19th century English poetry, and none of them
mention this poet. From what I see online, he seems to be known more for his light verse than his serious
verseso there probably isn't much serious scholarship on the guy.
You've inadvertently provided me with a chance to model for my AP students what we've lately be
discussing as part of our poetry study; therefore, if you'll humor me, I'll take a shot at providing an analysis
of HOW this poem meanssince (as I've been trying to convince my students) WHAT a poem means can
only be conveyed through the experience of the poem itself.
Aspects to consider concerning the form of the poem: each stanza begins with three lines written in iambic
tetrameter, contrasted by a fourth line in iambic dimeter that emphasizes those final lines. The meter has
little of the variation which can imply varied intensions in poetrymaking the poem more suitable,
perhaps, for musical adaptation (and augmentation) than literary analysis; that said, here's what I notice
Relating to scansion: in the fourth stanza, the word "little" (which roughens up the meter slightly) seems
included largely to provide the fourth foot in the line; the word is used a bit more naturally in stanzas four
and five. "Daintily" (stressed-unstressed-unstressed), followed by the stressed word "spread," provides a
definite metrical variation that strikes me as ironic, calling attention to the word in anything but a dainty
way. The only other obvious variation comes, similarly, in the fourth stanza's dimeter final line; the first
foot, being anapestic (instead of the established/expected iamb) rushes the short line, effectively
emphasizing the "many"-ness of the rings rippling outward from the dimple in the water where the
moonlight maidens face has disappeared.
Relating to the narrative: the poem enacts a fanciful rumination of a speaker confessing his impressions and
associative thoughts as he looks at moonlight playing on the surface of a stream. With the reference to "Her
tresses" and "Her parted lips [that] would sing" as she drowns (shown by "Her cheek [being not] red [but]
blue"), I can't imagine the poet isn't loosely alluding to HAMLET's Ophelia; of course, this is not a direct
comparison. The "divine" "she" that the speaker misses at the end of the poem exists in the loss of a fleeting
image gleaned from nature, not in the embodiment of the loss of the maiden ever-present in Shakespeare's
play. Instead (after all, the King Arthur legend works as well), my guess is that that poem is alluding only
generally to the traditional literary motif of desire for "the beloved."
A couple other moments that effectively hint at HOW the poem means: the use of "ever" and "never" in the
first stanza create a nice, dualistic tension between nature and man, subtly establishing a mysterious
contrast that intrigues even before we see "a maiden on a stream"; also, "a little space" in line 13, creates a
momentary and physical space in the poem that enacts both the time that the speaker "staid to watch" and
foreshadows the image of "Her parted lips" in the next line.
Relating to sound elements: because most of the sounds in this poem establish and maintain euphony, the
subtle modifications from that may be telling. One of the few overtly pronounced consonants are clouds of
jet, providing extra attention to this already dimeter-emphasized line and therefore surprising focus on the
maidens dark hair (or shadowed wave).
The most effective use of sound in the poem is the assonance of oo sounds in the line The bloom of
water, tender blueso beautiful that it is the most tragic aspect of the poem that the startling Daintily
spread in the next line [discussed above] literally and ironically undercuts it.
The line that, to my ear, sounds most tonally off is With many a ringdue to the rhythm as well as the
sound. Consider an alternate; something like Ring upon ring could become (in a modernized version) an
effectively understated endingthe poets having staid a little more in the penultimate stanza having
been a little too much and the final stanza dripping with sentimentality.
Hope something here helps,
Bill

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