..To Valclusa..

The sonnet that I decided to write for this week’s blog post is To Valclusa, which I am assuming was written by Thomas Russell. By the title the reader would assume that the author is writing a letter to whoever Valclusa is. After reading this poem thoroughly one complete time, it seems as if the author is explaining how he deals with the death of somebody that is close to him and somebody whom he loved. Some of the things he used to deal with this death includes bringing flowers to a shrine, singing a song, and just plainly mourning. As the sonnet continues it seems to be a change in pace as the author seems to be talking about more positive things instead of the mournful and depressing emotions from the death. The structure of this sonnet is what really stood out to me after reading this sonnet about six to eight times. It seems to be that the sonnet is split into two sections. The first section includes the first eight lines and the second section includes the last 6 lines.

The first section of this sonnet that I just mentioned has a different mood and emotion than the second section. In the first section the author seems to be focused on the mournful and grieving period after somebody’s death.

Long loved her living, long bemoaned her dead,

This line seems to sum up the author’s emotion of her death completely. He is simply saying that he loved her so much while she was living and always loved her. Then he is saying that now that she has died, he will mourn for her forever long, as he had loved her forever long when she was on earth. And as the author continues, it seems as though he will never be able to let go of her death and he will be grieving for all of eternity. The entire mood of this section seems to be depressing as seen in this line:

As erst, when drooping o’er her turf forlorn
He charmed wild Echo with his plaintive song!

This line tells the reader that the author is still mourning even while singing songs that are filled with sorrowful memories and pains. But the mood seems to turn around in the final section of this sonnet

This second section seems to almost take a complete turnaround from the first section in the direction the emotion is going. Through my own reflection of this sonnet I feel as though this second section is explaining how the author now realizes that even though his loved one is now gone, life still goes on.

Yet still soft music breathes in every gale,
Still undecayed the fairy-garlands bloom,
Still heavenly incense fills each fragrant vale,

These few lines come off to me as though the author finally came to the realization that even if he sits around and continues to mourn that life is still existing and going on. The author uses a comparison of the author moving on to nature. Because no matter if it snows, rains, or sleets nature still exists or nature rebuilds and grows again.

After understanding this poem, I believe the author is trying to get the reader to understand that mourning is not supposed to be something that last an eternity. He is not trying to downplay mourning, but he just wants the reader to understand that life HAS to go on. We cannot let the deaths of our closed, loved ones hinder our lives and keep us from achieving any goals in life.