The Corsair: from the Turkish
The Corsair: from the Turkish - meaning Summary
Love Betrayed and Renounced
The poem addresses a betrayed lover who once received a chain, lute, and true heart as tokens. The speaker describes how those gifts mirrored the beloved's constancy: when she changed, the chain broke and the lute fell silent, signaling loss of fidelity. The speaker renounces both the gifts and the faithless woman, mourning that affection and symbols of love cannot compel reciprocity. It reads as a short, bitter farewell to vanished love.
Read Complete AnalysesThe chain I gave was fair to view, The lute I added sweet in sound, The heart that offered both was true, And ill deserv'd the fate it found. These gifts were charm'd by secret spell Thy truth in absence to divine; And they have done their duty well, Alas! they could not teach thee thine. That chain was firm in every link. But not to bear a stranger's touch; That lute was sweet—till thou could'st think In other hands ts notes were such. Let him, who from thy neck unbound The chain which shiver'd in his grasp, Who saw that lute refuse to sound, Restring the chords, renew the clasp. When thou wert chang'd, they alter'd too; The chain is broke, the music mute: 'Tis past—to them and thee adieu— False heart, frail chain, and silent lute.
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