Shall the hag Evil die with child of Good...
Shall the hag Evil die with child of Good... - meaning Summary
Evil and Its Offspring
The speaker asks whether Evil will perish with Good or reproduce itself, imagining a grotesque hag propagating through diseased minds. Vivid, violent images—blown wings, cavernous cries, and hail—express a wish that a cleansing wind destroy or confound these malignant beings. The desired end is literal and symbolic: their wan limbs no longer obscure the moon’s reflection or blot the sun, restoring clear light and order.
Read Complete AnalysesShall the hag Evil die with child of Good, Or propagate again her loathed kind, Thronging the cells of the diseased mind, Hateful with hanging cheeks, a withered brood, Though hourly pastured on the salient blood? Oh! that the wind which bloweth cold or heat Would shatter and o’erbear the brazen beat Of their broad vans, and in the solitude Of middle space confound them, and blow back Their wild cries down their cavernthroats, and slake With points of blastborne hail their heated eyne! So their wan limbs no more might come between The moon and the moon’s reflex in the night; Nor blot with floating shades the solar light.
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