Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
Lines 79-84
"We two will lie i' the shadow of
Occult, withheld, untrod,
Whose lamps are stirr'd continually
With prayer sent up to God;
And see our old prayers, granted, melt
Each like a little cloud."
- The damozel continues her fantasy of reuniting with her lover in heaven.
- The two of them, she imagines, will "lie i' the shadow of/ Occult" (79-80). "Occult" here means hidden, so this is just a figurative way of saying that the two of them will be hidden away together and "withheld" from view.
- They'll also be "untrod," which literally means not walked upon, but here more closely means not stumbled upon by any passers-by. These two are going to be off in their own little world.
- That private world, according to the damozel, is actually called "Occult" here, and it comes complete with some lamps that will be "stirr'd continually"—keeping them lit—by the power of the couple's combined prayer.
- We have to admit: this is some weird description here. The couple will be hidden away from the world in the shadow of a place or a building called "Occult," but they'll remain hidden because the lamps of that hiding place will stay lit. Still, think of it like a private hotel room—the curtains are drawn and the occupants are hidden, but inside the light is bright and they're enjoying being together.
- Since they've finally achieved this blissful state (remember that this is still just the fantasy of the damozel), they're free to watch their old prayers (asking to be reunited) melt away like evaporating clouds. Good times.