The Sleeper Analysis

At midnight, in the month of June,
I stand beneath the mystic moon.
An opiate vapor, dewy, dim,
Exhales from out her golden rim,
And, softly dripping, drop by drop,
Upon the quiet mountain top,
Steals drowsily and musically
Into the universal valley.
The rosemary nods upon the grave;
The lily lolls upon the wave;
Wrapping the fog about its breast,
The ruin molders into rest;
Looking like Lethe, see! the lake
A conscious slumber seems to take,
And would not, for the world, awake.
All Beauty sleeps!- and lo! where lies
Irene, with her Destinies!

O, lady bright! can it be right-
This window open to the night?
The wanton airs, from the tree-top,
Laughingly through the lattice drop-
The bodiless airs, a wizard rout,
Flit through thy chamber in and out,
And wave the curtain canopy
So fitfully- so fearfully-
Above the closed and fringed lid
'Neath which thy slumb'ring soul lies hid,
That, o'er the floor and down the wall,
Like ghosts the shadows rise and fall!
Oh, lady dear, hast thou no fear?
Why and what art thou dreaming here?
Sure thou art come O'er far-off seas,
A wonder to these garden trees!
Strange is thy pallor! strange thy dress,
Strange, above all, thy length of tress,
And this all solemn silentness!

The lady sleeps! Oh, may her sleep,
Which is enduring, so be deep!
Heaven have her in its sacred keep!
This chamber changed for one more holy,
This bed for one more melancholy,
I pray to God that she may lie
For ever with unopened eye,
While the pale sheeted ghosts go by!

My love, she sleeps! Oh, may her sleep
As it is lasting, so be deep!
Soft may the worms about her creep!
Far in the forest, dim and old,
For her may some tall vault unfold-
Some vault that oft has flung its black
And winged panels fluttering back,
Triumphant, o'er the crested palls,
Of her grand family funerals-
Some sepulchre, remote, alone,
Against whose portal she hath thrown,
In childhood, many an idle stone-
Some tomb from out whose sounding door
She ne'er shall force an echo more,
Thrilling to think, poor child of sin!
It was the dead who groaned within.

.: :.

I have too wondered if he is entering a dream. It is clear that she is dead and he understand that, but as well wishes it to be as peaceful as posible. When he comments on her appearance i believe it shows the fact that it really has been so long since she died and that its different to see her in such a way, such a setting.
Does any one else think this poem was about Jane Stith Stanard??

| Posted on 2008-11-20 | by a guest

.: :.

I feel as if this man knows that Irene is dead but as he travels through the cemetery he is just coming to terms with her death. The fact that he sees her face whiter and her hair longer, to me suggests that it has taken him maybe several years to journey to the cemetery to accept her death. You can tell he struggles with whether or not to let her go because he speaks of Lethe or the river of forgetfulness, but he also speaks of rosemary the spice of remembrance. He talks about the water being peaceful and the cemetery but then suggest that the wind upsets this peace...at this point he starts to question himself or possibly he is questioning her. This suggests that he is unsure of whether to let her sleep peacefully or not, in the end he wants nothing more than her to be granted this peace he believes she deserves. At the end he makes reference to the fact that she has before knocked on deaths door as a young child and heard the echo of their groans, but now that she lay with them she can no longer cast that knock but instead only groan.

| Posted on 2008-11-19 | by a guest

.: :.

I'm also working on an English Assignment involving this poem, so I would appreciate it if anyone with an opinion or different interpretation of the piece could respond. In response to his unwillingness to accept that she is dead, I disagree. In the first verse, Poe makes it clear that the man in the poem is in a cemetery, hence the line about the 'moldering ruins'. Though Poe doesn't mention anything directly about her death until the end, I think that the reason for this is to say that her beauty has remained unharmed even though she has passed. To make her the reality of her death 'softer' so to speak. If he believed her to be simply asleep, he wouldn't have remarked on her pale skin. I do, however, agree that the poem is far too romantic to be about his mother =)
~Iffy

| Posted on 2008-09-04 | by a guest

.: :.

In my opinion, this poem is about a man on a quest to find the tomb of his departed lover. I think that he finds an open tomb and believes that the occupant of that tomb is his beloved Irene, but it's actually someone else. That's why he comments on her strange dress and strange length of tress (hair).
~Iffy

| Posted on 2008-09-04 | by a guest

.: :.

I believe that this poem is about Poe's target of a crazy love, in which he is so unwilling to accept that she is dead that he calls her asleep. It is indicative of an overwhelming obsession on Poe's part. Only in the last stanza, does he speak of anything that is related directly to death.
And I don't really see the link of it being his mother..hahah. it is too romantically written. but I DO agree that it could be a possible inter[retation, all you have to do is argue your case well. :)

| Posted on 2008-06-20 | by a guest

.: Mother? :.

does anyone else think that this poem could be about his mother?
Because Poe wrote it the year his brother died of alcoholism. And he doesnt want her to see what has become of her family.?
Please respond. English Assignment.

| Posted on 2008-05-29 | by a guest

.: A 14 year-old :.

sorry about those last three...my computer was messing up. Only the one on top is the right one...(no frogs) i read it wrong...

| Posted on 2008-04-07 | by a guest

.: A 14 year-old :.

It is true that this poem can mean many things. To me it means... on a dark, foggy night, a man goes to visit his loved one, dead at the semetary. He brings flowers to her grave... Irene is dead, but though dead, she lights up his way...He is scared and wonders what she dreams of...She came from a greater place far away and brought life to his world. Now she deserves her rest and is in a better place. He doesn't want her to open her eyes to the dangers outside in the world...Let nothing disturb her rest...She can do nothing more, but she longs to push through the closed tomb door...

| Posted on 2008-04-07 | by a guest

.: A 14 year-old :.

It is true that this poem can mean many things. To me it means... on a dark, foggy night, a man goes to visit his loved one, dead at the semetary. He brings flowers to her grave. Frogs croak in the distance... Irene is dead, but though dead, she lights up his way...He is scared and wonders what she dreams of...She came from a greater place far away and brought life to his world. Now she deserves her rest and is in a better place. He doesn't want her to open her eyes to the dangers outside in the world...Let nothing disturb her rest...She can do nothing more, but she longs to push through the closed tomb door...

| Posted on 2008-04-07 | by a guest

.: A 14 year-old :.

It is true that this poem can mean many things. To me it means... on a dark, foggy night, a man goes to visit his loved one, dead at the semetary. He brings flowers to her grave. Frogs croak in the distance... Irene is dead, but though dead, she lights up his way...He is scared and wonders what she dreams of...She came from a greater place far away and brought life to his world. Now she deserves her rest and is in a better place. He doesn't want her to open her eyes to the dangers outside in the world...Let nothing disturb her rest...She can do nothing more, but she longs to push through the closed tomb door...

| Posted on 2008-04-07 | by a guest

.: :.

At first the poem seems to be ambiguous about whether the narrator knows or not that woman is dead. Once Irene is introduced, the narrator begins to question her (it is also possible that these questions were only meant for himself and may have not expected Irene to answer them). From the start of the third stanza we can be quite sure that the speaker knows that the lady is dead:"Heaven have her in its sacred keep!", "Soft may the worms about her creep!","For her may some tall vault unfold-"




| Posted on 2007-02-22 | by a guest

.: A guess :.

As I read this poem, I could picture in my mind what I thought it might be about. It's only a small idea, but I believe that it corresponds quite well with the poetry.
A man, who is asleep and dreaming, suddenly happens upon the face of a woman he used to know and love. He imagines that she is sleeping happily, but is puzzled by her ghostly appearance...
Deep down, he knows that she is dead, but a part of him still thinks of her as his beloved, and wishes to protect her from the dangers of the night.

All in all, sad but sweet.
At least, that's how I see it.
~LF~

| Posted on 2005-11-23 | by Approved Guest