Blog Entry 1.3 - "The Horrors of Sleep" Interpretation

The Horrors of Sleep 

By: Emily Bronte

Sleep brings no joy to me.
Remembrance never dies.
My soul is given to mystery,
And lives in sighs.

Sleep brings no rest to me;
The shadows of the dead
My wakening eyes may never see
Surround my bed.

Sleep brings no hope to me,
In soundest sleep they come,
And with their doleful imag'ry
Deepen the gloom.

Sleep brings no strength to me,
No power renewed to brave;
I only sail a wilder sea,
A darker wave.

Sleep brings no friend to me
to soothe and aid to bear;
They all gaze on, how scornfully,
And I despair.

Sleep brings no wish to fret
My harassed heart beneath;
My only wish is to forget
In endless sleep of death.

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Life of Emily Bronte

Emily Bronte was born in 1818 in Yorkshire and died in 1848, at age thirty.  She was very prone to sickness so she ended up being the "housewife" of the home, where she performed all of the womanly duties of the household. During her time at home, she taught herself German and piano.  Emily wrote all of her poems in notebooks and when her sisters found these books and read her poetry, they encouraged Emily to publish her works along with their poetry.  Due to the fact that women were not suppose to be leaders or have brains of their own, the sisters had to give themselves manly names so that their book would be published and read.  Emily only had one book published under her real name in 1847.  Emily welcomed death by "refusing medical help" after she caught a cold during her brother's funeral.  Her sickness lasted for three months until death overcame her.

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Denotative & Connotative Definitions

Sleep:

Denotation: to take the rest afforded by a suspension of voluntary bodily functions and the natural suspension, complete or partial, of consciousness; cease being awake.

Connotation: Sleep can symbolize death, darkness, suffocation, unconsciousness, ignorance, and a way to escape something.

Sighs:
Denotation: to let out one's breath audibly, as from sorrow, weariness, or relief.

Connotation: Sighs can be a sound of failure and discouragement.  When people sigh, they usually submit to or give up on something.  Sighing indicates life, yet it could also be the sound of someone's last breath.

Shadows:
Denotation: a dark figure or image cast on the ground or some surface by a body intercepting light.

Connotation: Shadows are dreary, dark, haunting and ghostly.  They can symbolize death, mystery, inferiority, and shelter.  Shadows can cast over people and embody them as it reduces or totally eliminates light.  This could also symbolize a weak point or a reduction in hope.
Wakening:
Denotation: to rouse from sleep
Connotation: Wakening can symbolize enlightenment, an eye-opening experience, or even to rise from a state of depression or weakness.

Rest:
Denotation: the refreshing quiet or repose of sleep
Connotation: When people rest, they usually tend to find calm, peace, solitude, and freedom; however, rest can symbolize death and submission.
Eyes:
Denotation: the organ of sight, in vertebrates typically one of a pair of spherical bodies contained in an orbit of the skull and in humans appearing externally as a dense, white, curved membrane, or sclera, surrounding a circular, colored portion, or iris, that is covered by a clear, curved membrane, or cornea, and in the center of which is an opening, or pupil, through which light passes to the retina.

Connotation: Eyes symbolize windows to the soul and a pathway to obtain knowledge.

Bed:
Denotation: a piece of furniture upon which or within which a person sleeps, rests, or stays when not well.

Connotation: Beds symbolize a place of rest, relaxation, or sickness or pain.  A bed could also be described as a coffin, where the dead are laid to rest.

Sail:
Denotation: an area of canvas or other fabric extended to the wind in such a way as to transmit the force of the wind to an assemblage of spars and rigging mounted firmly on a hull, raft, iceboat, etc., so as to drive it along.

Connotation: The word "sail" symbolizes something that is lightweight, effortless, and dependent on natural sources and events for movement.

Sea:
Denotation: the salt waters that cover the greater part of the earth's surface.

Connotation: The sea has great symbolism.  It could connote depth, mystery, violence, calmness, a spiritual place, buoyancy, a mirror image, and something that is greater than the ground that we walk on.

Wave: 
Denotation: a disturbance on the surface of a liquid body, as the sea or a lake, in the form of a moving ridge or swell
Connotation: A wave can be a violent disturbance. It also symbolizes a force that that can overcome you or it can be cleansing and refreshing.

Gaze:
Denotation: to look steadily and intently, as with great curiosity, interest, pleasure, or wonder.

Connotation: The symbolism of "gaze" is waiting for something to occur, admiring something, or allowing your vision to overpower your state of mind.

Beneath:
Denotation: below; in or to a lower place, position, state, or the like.

Connotation: To be beneath, could symbolize Hell, dirt, Earth, inferior, burial at six feet underground, or something that goes unnoticed.
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 My Interpretation Stanza by Stanza

Sleep brings no joy to me.

Remembrance never dies.

My soul is given to mystery,

And lives in sighs.

My interpretation of the first stanza is that the individual goes to sleep in effort to escape memories; however, the memories are only seen and lived once again in her dreams.  Her soul seeks answers to questions that she may never find so she sighs in disappointment, in an effort to calm herself down, and to give up on pondering and remembering the past.

Sleep brings no rest to me;

The shadows of the dead

My wakening eyes may never see

Surround my bed.

The second stanza tells us that although she sleeps, she does not rest. Her mind fails to enter a place of relaxation and peace. She will never see shadows of a particular person, who may have been a husband that would watch over her as she sleeps. The second and forth lines of the stanza could be further interpreted to announce that the person would protect her in her place of rest, sickness, or peace and  that she sees this person's ghost as she sleep. At this point we know that this protective person is deceased due to the phrase "shadows of the dead".

Sleep brings no hope to me,

In soundest sleep they come,

And with their doleful imag'ry

Deepen the gloom.

The third stanza states that she sleeps in hopes of being able to remove herself from her state of depression, but it fails every time because in her dreams she sees the decreased person and it deepens her depression.

Sleep brings no strength to me,

No power renewed to brave;

I only sail a wilder sea,

A darker wave

The forth stanza tells us that sleep does not strengthen her ability to move on.  She feels that she cannot and is not swimming in a sea, but that she is only floating on top of the water without any protection from the waves that could kill her with their strength. She is indifferent towards death and life.

Sleep brings no friend to me

to soothe and aid to bear;

They all gaze on, how scornfully,

And I despair.

The fifth stanza reveals that people who she once considered friends do not help her to heal from her pain or suffering.  These people just appear to be dumbfounded and are waiting for her next move, but their lack of action and support just makes her feel hopeless and obsolete.

Sleep brings no wish to fret

My harassed heart beneath;

My only wish is to forget

In endless sleep of death.

The sixth stanza announces her desire to die.  Sleep causes her to not crave to worry or ponder anymore.  Her heart is broken and all she wants to do is forget about all of her pain, worries, questions, discomfort, hopelessness by dying.  She believes that her only way to find peace is in death, where she may feel that she's sure to be with the deceased person once again.

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Sources Used

1. http://www.horrormasters.com/Text/a_032.pdf (Horrors of Sleep Poem)

 

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Bronte (Emily Bronte Biography)

3. http://www.umich.edu/~umfandsf/other/m_search.html (Symbolism Dictionary)

4. http://www.newagedirectory.com/dream/dictionary.htm (Dream Interpretation)