Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

The poem "The Bourne" by Christina Georgina Rossetti is a four-stanza quatrain that expresses the idea of life and death. The poem's title is an archaic word meaning a small stream, and it is used as a metaphor for the cycle of life and death. The poem speaks of the inevitability of death and the transience of life, but also emphasizes the enduring nature of the human soul.

The rhyme scheme of the poem is ABCBDEFE, with the second and fourth lines of each stanza rhyming. This creates a musical quality that contributes to the poem's contemplative tone. Rossetti employs several other poetic devices, such as metaphor and personification, to convey her message.

The first stanza uses natural imagery to suggest that life and death are part of a larger natural cycle. The line "Underneath the growing grass, / Underneath the living flowers" evokes the idea of growth and decay, while "Deeper than the sound of showers" suggests the passage of time. The repetition of "Underneath" emphasizes the idea that life and death are interconnected and cannot be separated.

The second stanza describes how youth, health, and beauty are fleeting, and how death is the great equalizer. The line "There a very little girth / Can hold round what once the earth / Seemed too narrow to contain" uses a metaphor to convey the idea that even though the physical body may decay, the soul endures.

In the third stanza, Rossetti personifies time as a shadow. The line "There we shall not count the hours / By the shadows as they pass" suggests that in death, time no longer holds any significance.

The final stanza brings the poem to a close with the repetition of the first line, "Underneath the growing grass." This repetition emphasizes the cyclical nature of life and death and suggests that death is not an end but a part of the larger natural order.

Overall, "The Bourne" is a meditative poem that invites readers to contemplate the inevitability of death and the enduring nature of the human soul. Through its use of metaphor, imagery, and poetic repetition, the poem presents a message that is both comforting and thought-provoking.

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...