The Sonnets to Orpheus: 4.
The Sonnets to Orpheus: 4. - meaning Summary
Relinquishing Burdens to Earth
The poem addresses fragile, compassionate people and urges them to face coldness and suffering rather than resist. It counsels returning burdens to the earth—mountains, seas, grown trees—so individuals no longer carry overwhelming weight alone. The images of wind and space suggest that relinquishment allows renewal and continuity. Overall the sonnet affirms maturity through acceptance and the communal, elemental sharing of grief and responsibility.
Read Complete AnalysesO you tender ones, walk now and then into the breath that blows coldly past, Upon your cheeks let it tremble and part; behind you it will tremble together again. O you blessed ones, you who are whole, you who seem the beginning of hearts, bows for the arrows and arrows' targets-- tear-bright, your lips more eternally smile. Don't be afraid to suffer; return that heaviness to the earth's own weight; heavy are the mountains, heavy the seas. Even the small trees you planted as children have long since become too heavy; you could not carry them now. But the winds...But the spaces....
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