Lunar Paraphrase
Lunar Paraphrase - meaning Summary
Lunar Source of Compassion
Stevens personifies the moon as a maternal source of pity and tenderness. Set in late November, the moon’s weak light moves through bare branches and casts a pallor that evokes the human figures of Jesus and Mary, suggesting vulnerability and mourning. Frosted leaves and a “golden illusion” over houses recall an earlier, calmer season and soothe sleepers with quiet dreams. The poem links natural imagery to gentle compassion.
Read Complete Analyseshe moon is the mother of pathos and pity. When, at the wearier end of November, Her old light moves along the branches, Feebly, slowly, depending upon them; When the body of Jesus hangs in a pallor, Humanly near, and the figure of Mary, Touched on by hoar-frost, shrinks in a shelter Made by the leaves, that have rotted and fallen; When over the houses, a golden illusion Brings back an earlier season of quiet And quieting dreams in the sleepers in darkness— The moon is the mother of pathos and pity.
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