The Two Locks of Hair
From The German Of Pfeizer
The Two Locks of Hair - meaning Summary
Memory Tied to Locks
A wandering narrator remembers a dream of a lost wife and child whose deaths opened his life to perpetual travel. Two locks of hair—a brown one from the mother and a blond one from the child—anchor that vision and return him to grief when seen. The poem contrasts outward lighthearted wandering with inward, recurring sorrow, showing how small relics can revive a haunting, unresolved bereavement.
Read Complete AnalysesA Youth, light-hearted and content, I wander through the world Here, Arab-like, is pitched my tent And straight again is furled. Yet oft I dream, that once a wife Close in my heart was locked, And in the sweet repose of life A blessed child I rocked. I wake! Away that dream,--away! Too long did it remain! So long, that both by night and day It ever comes again. The end lies ever in my thought; To a grave so cold and deep The mother beautiful was brought; Then dropt the child asleep. But now the dream is wholly o'er, I bathe mine eyes and see; And wander through the world once more, A youth so light and free. Two locks--and they are wondrous fair-- Left me that vision mild; The brown is from the mother's hair, The blond is from the child. And when I see that lock of gold, Pale grows the evening-red; And when the dark lock I behold, I wish that I were dead.
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