Symbol Analysis
Water pops up really often in this poem, but its significance is never fully explained. Why is Guenevere's hair wet at the beginning? What's up with the elaborate, drawn-out image of a path to the sea as she tells the history of her relationship with Launcelot? The sea (and water more generally) is often associated with women in western poetry, and sometimes with changefulness (because the tides change with the moon, which is also an emblem of change). So what, exactly, are these images of water and the sea doing in this poem?
- Line 2: Guenevere's hair is wet at the beginning of the poem, but we're never told why. Is she getting all sweaty from the pressure? Has she been standing in the rain? Did she just go for a swim? Is it something else entirely? Your guess is as good as ours.
- Lines 94-95: Guenevere imagines walking down a path to a "cool sea" on a hot day. The sea appears to be a metaphor for something, but it's not clear exactly what it stands for. Guenevere doesn't like to be very explicit – she keeps us guessing.
- Line 100: In her elaborate metaphor about the sea, Guenevere compares her hair to "sea-weed" in a simile.
- Line 102: In the drawn-out metaphor, the sea washes away her sweat and dryness. This could be read as a metaphor for forgiveness, but it's a slippery image, so we can't be too sure. Morris likes to keep us guessing, too.
- Line 226: Here Guenevere uses hyperbole, or poetic exaggeration, when she says they will all "drown" in their own blood, since really she just means they'll get stabbed and killed. What a drama queen.
- Line 227: Guenevere uses a simile to compare the rising of her breast with "waves of purple sea."