To Marguerite by Matthew Arnold

Text:

YES: in the sea of life enisled,

With echoing straits between us thrown.

Dotting the shoreless watery wild,

We mortal millions live alone.

The islands feel the enclasping flow,

And they realize that their difficulties will never end.

And when they see the lightness of the moon

And they are relieved by the calmness of the springs,

And when they walk and observe the starry nights,

The nightingales divinely sing;

And lovely notes, from shore to shore,

Across the sounds and channels pour;

O then a longing like despair

Is to their farthest caverns sent!

For surely once, they feel, we were

Parts of a single continent.

Now round us spreads the watery plain--

O might our marges meet again!

Who order'd that their longing's fire

Should be, as soon as kindled, cool'd?

Who renders vain their deep desire?--

A God, a God their severence ruled;

And bade betwixt their shores to be

The unplumb'd, salt, estranging sea.

Initial Response:
After reading the poem "To Marguerite" by Matthew Arnold, I believe that the poem explains how, due to personal reasons, people begin to drift away from each other. Written as a letter to his lover, the narrator explains how, over time, they have grown far apart from each other.

Paraphrase:

Yes! in the isolated life,

With the reoccurring obstacles thrown at us,

Marking the hardships of life,

We humans live alone.

The isloation has caused an endless amount of hardships

And then their endless bounds they know.

But when the moon their hollow lights,

And they are swept by balms of spring,

And in their glens, on starry nights,

The nightingales divinely sing;

And their lovely notes travels across the world,

From one end of the world to another;

As this isolation continues, it creates more despair then a longing like despair

For everyone has despair in the back of their minds!

We were once united.

But now we have went our separate ways, like water being spilled in a plain--

With God's grace, we will once be united!

Which man wished that their fire

would be kindled and cooled?

Who wishes to have vain in their desires?--

By God's power, we were separated;

And rightfully so, we had to go our separate ways

Due to our conflict, we had to go our separate ways, and be left into loneliness.

SWIFTT
    {SW}SYNTAX/ Word Choice:
             The use of syntax is evident in the line, " Who renders vain their deep desire." The reader can easily see the distrust the narrator has due to losing his love. Although they have separated, the reader can still see the connection between both lovers, and how broken the narrator is.
     {I}Imagery:
              Imagery is constantly used throughout the poem, especially in the second stanza. The whole stanza describes the features of nature. The main use of imagery, however, is when the author describes the island; the island allows the reader to understand the loneliness of the narrator, and when the island broke off, it foreshadowed the possibility of the island returning to the mainland.
     {F}Figurative Language:
              Figurative language occurs throught the poem, such as, "a distance like the sea," and "O then a longing like despair is to the farthest caverns sent." 
     {T}Tone:
               The tone is very dismal, but appreciative. Although the narrarator lost his love, and is broken down in to a severe state of loneliness, he is still appreciative to how the seperation was for the best of both lovers. 
     {T}Theme:
                Although a person faces complete loneliness, in the end, after time, they will realize that everything occurred for the best.
     

  Conclusion:
                 Matthew Arnold establishes the theme of loneliness, but as a whole, Arnold is trying to establish that a person will overcome their loneliness, and will realize that everything is for the best.