I Am in Chains
I Am in Chains - meaning Summary
Captive Yet Contented Voice
The speaker frames his emotional captivity as a willing, almost gentle bondage. He compares himself to a nightingale trapped in laurels and to a rose kept under guard, yet both images emphasize beauty, song, and devotion rather than suffering. The poem presents confinement as a condition that deepens tenderness: the speaker accepts restraint because it allows sustained, intimate expression of love beneath a sensual night.
Read Complete AnalysesI am in chains, O maiden-rose, And yet, not shameful of these guards; A nightingale, thus, – in dense laurels – A feathered king of the woods’ bards, A proud and charming rose over, In a sweet bondage – lives for long And softly sings for her a song Under a sensual night’s cover. Translated by Yevgeny Bonver
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