This docile one inter 1
While we who dare to live
Arraign the sunny brevity
That sparkled to the Grave.
On her departing span 5
No wilderness remain
As dauntless in the House of Death
As if it were her own－
While we who dare to live
Arraign the sunny brevity
That sparkled to the Grave.
On her departing span 5
No wilderness remain
As dauntless in the House of Death
As if it were her own－
(F.1769/J.1752)
[1–8]:: This poem talks about Bleak House (1853), a novel by Charles Dickens (1812–70).
[1] docile one:: Lady Dedlock who had an illegitimate daughter Esther Summerson. The lady accepted her fate. inter:: "We inter this docile one." The world bury Lady Dedlock, for her love affair. She died before her lover's grave.
[2] we who dare to live:: those people around Lady Dedlock.
[3, 4] sunny brevity, Grave:: Lady Dedlock died in the mausoleum in the park, but how she died was a mystery. She went out "in the shrill frosty wind" without sunshine. The mausoleum is a Grave building.
[6] wilderness:: the law suit of "Jarndyce and Jarndyce," a large inheritance. No wilderness remain:: winner of the suit got nothing at the end.
[7] the House of Death:: a hint at the answer, Bleak House.