The Cold Earth Slept Below

Context

There is some controversy about when the poem was written, Shelley's first wife Harriet drowned in the Serpentine in 1816 and there is thought that this poem is about her death. Shelley died in a boating accident in 1922 and the poem was not published until after his death, first appearing in 1823 titled 'November 1815'. However, it is well known that Mary Shelley edited her husband's work to remove the publicly unacceptable details of his life and thus she may have changed the date to 1815 so it would appear the poem had been written before Harriet's death.

The cold earth slept below;

Above the cold sky shone;

And all around,

With a chilling sound,

From caves of ice and fields of snow

The breath of night like death did flow

Beneath the sinking moon.

The wintry hedge was black;

The green grass was not seen;

The birds did rest

On the bare thorn’s breast,

Whose roots, beside the pathway track,

Had bound their folds o’er many a crack

Which the frost had made between.

Thine eyes glow’d in the glare

Of the moon’s dying light;

As a fen-fire’s beam

On a sluggish stream

Gleams dimly—so the moon shone there,

And it yellow’d the strings of thy tangled hair,

That shook in the wind of night.

The moon made thy lips pale, beloved;

The wind made thy bosom chill;

The night did shed

On thy dear head

Its frozen dew, and thou didst lie

Where the bitter breath of the naked sky

Might visit thee at will.

Analysis

Stanza 1

'the cold earth slept below' personifies the earth as it gives it human needs, yet simultaneously dehumanises it through its description as 'cold'. This could suggest the dark and ominous power the earth holds, that despite being 'below' humanity, it has the power to dictate what happens on earth. 'Slept' evokes a sense of rest and tranquillity (could be the enduring quality of nature) but also foreboding and tension, as what happens when the earth wakes up?

'Above the cold sky shone;' repetition of the adjective 'cold' emphasises its importance, the speaker almost becomes consumed by this lack of heat, displays the clear contrast between human and nature. It also combines the earth and sky into a single, inescapable landscape evoking bleak ideas of isolation and entrapment. The verb 'shone' holds positive religious connotations and is a lot more active than the earth which 'slept below'. This could show that the sky holds more power than the Earth, yet the main source of the sky's light (the moon) is dying as the poem progresses.

The increasing use of propositions ('above''below''all around') creates a sense of entrapment emphasised by the use of synesthesia as the speaker references the 'chilling sound' that also has a cold character. This could seek to highlight the unnaturalness of the surroundings and the lack of life in the poem.

'caves of ice and fields of snow' has a strong sibilant sound, perhaps mirroring the sound of shivers. The slight parallelism of this line goes to highlight the lack of disparity between each aspect of the landscape and its merging similarity.

'the breath of night like death did flow' creates an uncomfortable and intrusive image, also slightly contradictory as the very life force of the night (its breath) has the characteristics of death. This gives nature an immortal quality in that it transgresses human boundaries between life and death.

'beneath the sinking moon' moons can be seen as a symbol of femininity and fertility, its sinking action also mirroring how Harriet drowned in the Serpentine carrying Percy's child.

Stanza 2

This stanza centres around a particular scene in nature, rather than the more general image the first stanza creates.

'the wintry hedge was black' could be black from lack of light from the 'sinking moon', dead from the frost or symbolically 'black' due to its evil character. Hedges also provide natural barriers between fields/paths, further emphasising this sense of entrapment

'the green grass was not seen', the phrase 'the grass is always greener' was probably not around in the 19th century but this line still conveys the same lack of optimism. The adjective green creates a contrast to the 'black' in the first line showing how death prevails over life in this poem.

'the birds did rest / on the bare thorn's breast'

This image juxtaposes life with death on a very minute scale as the bird sits upon a barren branch, their 'rest' mirroring the same calmness of the 'cold earth' that slept below, perhaps showing how they are complicit? Alternatively, birds hold a strong symbolism of freedom and saviour in the bible, their choice to perch on this bare branch showing a sense of defiance and hope in this bleak landscape.

'whose roots, beside the pathway track / had bound their folds o'er many a crack' 'paths' are usually a human method of dissecting and attempting to control natural landscapes, the 'roots' reclaiming their natural habitat showing the futility of trying to control nature. Also could be seen as another positive image as roots suggest the growth of trees.

Stanza 3

This stanza introduces who the speaker is addressing, which up and till now has not been revealed - does this create a sense of surprise or perhaps the speaker did not know he would address this woman until now either.

** it is not actually clear whether the addressee is a human or an animal **

'Thine eyes glowed in the glare' - one wonders where the light has come from to produce a 'glare' seeing as the moon is 'sinking' and it is clearly deep winter. This could suggest a kind of artificial light or perhaps delusion in the eyes of the speaker as it references in the next line that the moon's light is 'dying'.

'glow'd' suggests the addressee is glowing from within, a contrast to the landscape which is devoid of light

'as a fen-fire's beam on a sluggish stream' Fen-fire is an atmospheric ghost light seen by travellers at night over bodies of water, it can symbolise a hope/goal that leads one on but is impossible to reach or something one finds sinister or confusing. This stanza becomes more and more about deception and the questionable presence of light.If taken as a contextual point it could link to how Harriet's spirit now plays upon the water she drowned in, the way it tempts Percy in yet he can never be with her again.

'it yellow'd the strings of thy tangled hair' Strings is a very unattractive description of hair, death has robbed this woman of all beauty. 'tangled' suggests a wild kind of abandon and perhaps struggle.

'that shook in the wind of the night' could evoke a sense of fear if 'shaking' is taken for shivering, or that they have no power over how the wind moves her

Stanza 4

This stanza goes further into the effects of the wind and nature upon the dead body, it becomes quite intrusive and predatory.

'the moon made thy lips pale, beloved;' attributing the moon to making her lips pale and the wind to chilling her bosom, it seems as if the speaker is attributing blame to different facets of nature in a defensive way - deflecting blame and guilt from himself? By separating out her body parts, this stanza seems disjointed and fractured, reflecting a chaotic sense of self?

'beloved' and 'dear' suggest a personal connection to the addressee, increasing emotion as the poem progresses.

'and thou didst lie / where the bitter breath of the naked sky / might visit thee at will' Her lying in a passive state links to the title of the poem, perhaps she has finally become at one with nature through death, attains the tranquillity the Earth has. 'naked sky' implies a stripped back, animalistic power that the sky possesses, even in vulnerability its 'bitter breath' reigns supreme.

'might visit thee at will' implies a lack of consent and perhaps bitterness on the speaker's part as while he can never visit her again, nature can at any time. Yet 'visit' is quite a neutral verb, ends the poem on the same disinterested tone as it began on.

Form and structure

The poem is written in 4 6 lines stanzas called sextains with a relatively regular rhyme scheme of ABCCDDE. The two shortest lines in each stanza are a rhyming couplet, giving them extra emphasis and creating a climax in the middle of each stanza.

https://owlcation.com/humanities/The-Cold-Earth-Slept-Below-by-Percy-Bysshe-Shelley-1792-1822-Analysis-and-Context

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A Level Politics and English Literature