The grave
In the poem ‘’The Cry of the Children’’ the narrator mentions how the people who cry the most are the children who, despite being young, cannot be consoled. The reason why they die has to do with the graves they see, objects that become symbols for death and mortality. The fact that the children are affected by it shows that mortality affects every one of us.
Death as a monument
One of the common motifs found in the poems is the comparison between death and suffering and a statue. This appears in the poems ‘’Grief’’ and ‘’The Cry of Children’’ as well as in a number of other poems. What this motif wants to transmit is the idea that pain and death can’t be avoided and that everyone will at one time in their life stop to contemplate it.
Symbol for different perceptions
In the poem entitled ‘’The Lady’s Yes’’, the narrator mentions in the first stanza the presence of candles. These candles create an optical illusion in the room, changing the shapes of the objects and making them appear something they are not. Thus, the candles are used in this context as a symbol to point out the differences in perception that can exist in our world and the differences we can have from our peers.
The foot
In the poem ‘’A Man’s Requirements’’, the man asks the woman to love him with her ‘’loitering foot’’. The foot and also the attribute given here transmit the idea that a woman should always follow her husband, which is a woman should always be obedient, no matter what. Thus, the foot is used here as symbols for the obedience women were expected to have towards their husbands.
The reed
In the poem ‘’A Musical Instrument’’, the narrator mentions how the God Pan took a reed from the river and butchered it. The reed is described almost as a person and thus by taking the reed out, Pan murdered it. The reason why Pan took was reed was to create music, which he did. The read becomes a symbol here for the sacrifices a person needs to make to create art. Just as the reed was murdered for the sake of art, many other people did similar things to create beautiful paintings, writings or music, sacrificing everything they had.
