modern love (1)

by this he knew she wept with waking eyes:
that, at his hand's light quiver by her head
the strange low sobs that shook their common bed
were called into her, with a sharp surprise,
and strangled mute, like little gaping snakes,
deadly venomous to him. she lay
stone-still, and the long darkness flowed away
with muffled pulses. then, as midnight makes
her giant heart of memory and tears
drink the pale drug of silence, and so beat
sleep's heavy measure, they from head to feet
were moveless, looking through their dead black years
by vain regret scrawled over the blank wall.
like sculptured effigies they might be seen
upon their marriage tomb, the sword between;
each wishing for the sword that severs all.

This (by George Meredith), is the first of these poems that has lost merit to me through the process of memorization. With both the Keats and Yeats, memorizing the poem made me pay attention to details that were rewarding. Here, I feel that the poem is less able to withstand the increased scrutiny.

First, things I like. The 16-line sonnet is a natural fit for the subject matter. Sonnets, traditionally, are about looking at things one way, and then changing perspectives and coming to a new conclusion. But here, we have two octaves instead of an octave and sestet, subtly reinforcing the pervasive feeling of despair: the situation is terrible and there is no new perspective from which to look at it that will make it seem better. I like the domestic mode here, too. This poem is intensely private, but it isn't about self-reflection; the reader instead is forced into a voyeuristic perspective, seeing the failing couple alone. This reads so entirely differently from any other Victorian poetry I've encountered. This is 1862, not 1962.

Now the bad. I had an especially difficult time memorizing this. I was able to remember the structure of the poem, image by image, but the individual words, phrases, and lines very frequently proved elusive. And I think that's because, really, Meredith uses quite a few throwaway words, particularly adjectives, in order to fill out his meter. "Pale drug" and "blank wall" seem especially weak and unmemorable. Sometimes it seems he stretches out an image for lines on end just to take up space: "then, as midnight makes/her giant heart of memory and tears/ drink the pale drug of silence, and so beat/ sleep's heavy measure" is the most offensive section. "Giant heart of memory and tears" would make more sense as just "heart," but that's not nearly enough syllables.

I still like this poem, but I can also see how it's not on the same level of sonnetude as "Leda and the Swan". Nowhere close.