Lord Byron is a well-known name in the world of poetry and literature. Lord George Gordon Byron’s ‘On the Death of a Young Lady Lady’ is a deeply emotional poem that talks about the death of a loved one.
The poem is about the death of Lord Byron’s cousin; Margaret Parker. Byron was very close to her and the expression of his love and grief is a testament to that.
Let’s take a look at the poem and then at the meaning and analysis of each stanza, along with the theme of the poem.
On the Death of a Young Lady by Lord Byron
Cousin to the Author, and very dear to him Hush’d are the winds, and still the evening gloom, Not e’en a zephyr wanders through the grove, Whilst I return, to view my Margaret’s tomb, And scatter flowers on the dust I love. Within this narrow cell reclines her clay, That clay, where once such animation beam’d; The King of Terrors seized her as his prey, Not worth nor beauty have her life redeem’d. Oh! could that King of Terrors pity feel, Or heaven reverse the dread decree of fate, Not here the mourner would his grief reveal, Not here the muse her virtues would relate. But wherefore weep? Her matchless spirit soars Beyond where splendid shines the orb of day; And weeping angels lead her to those bowers Where endless pleasures virtuous deeds repay. And shall presumptuous mortals Heaven arraign, And, madly, godlike Providence accuse? Ah! no, far fly from me attempts so vain;– I’ll ne’er submission to my God refuse. Yet is remembrance of those virtues dear, Yet fresh the memory of that beauteous face; Still they call forth my warm affection’s tear, Still in my heart retain their wonted place.
Stanza Analysis and Meaning
Hush’d are the winds, and still the evening gloom,
Not e’en a zephyr wanders through the grove,
Whilst I return, to view my Margaret’s tomb,
And scatter flowers on the dust I love.
The first stanza establishes the scene; His cousin, Margaret is dead and is placed in the tomb. One can imagine how the world feels in such moments.
There is a blanket of quietness everywhere, and not even the wind seems to be moving. With the death of Margaret, it seems that everything else is lying still as well.
Byron scatters the flowers and he calls his cousin “dust.” This is a metaphor for the body which is nothing but dust. “You are dust and to dust you shall return.”
Within this narrow cell reclines her clay,
That clay, where once such animation beam’d;
The King of Terrors seized her as his prey,
Not worth nor beauty have her life redeem’d.
Byron uses another metaphor for the body in the second stanza; clay. Lord Byron remembers how beautiful she used to be. How expressive her face was, but now it seems like a clay figure.
Death has taken her, and nothing could give her back the life she had. No amount of money or beauty is enough to give her back her life.
Oh! could that King of Terrors pity feel,
Or heaven reverse the dread decree of fate,
Not here the mourner would his grief reveal,
Not here the muse her virtues would relate.
The third stanza shows the bargaining stage of grief where Lord Byron asks if it is possible to give Margaret her life back.
He says that it is possible for death to feel pity or perhaps heaven could reverse the order of fate and give her back her life.
But wherefore weep? Her matchless spirit soars
Beyond where splendid shines the orb of day;
And weeping angels lead her to those bowers
Where endless pleasures virtuous deeds repay.
In the fourth stanza, we see a shift in the tone. The poet says that there is no reason for him to mourn and weep. While the ‘dust’ and ‘clay’ lies here, Margaret is not in the coffin cell.
Her spirit is soaring in the sky, where the sun shines and the crying angels are leading her to the comfortable place where she will be repaid for her virtuous deeds.
This phase of mourning is the understanding that there is no hope for the person to come back, so the poet tries to feel some relief knowing that she is in a happy place.
While her body lies here, her soul is with the angels who themselves are crying for the death of such a beautiful and pure woman.
And shall presumptuous mortals Heaven arraign,
And, madly, godlike Providence accuse?
Ah! no, far fly from me attempts so vain;–
I’ll ne’er submission to my God refuse.
The fifth stanza talks about how wrong it is for him to accuse God of taking her before her time. The poet says that if God has taken her away, then it must be her time to go.
Mortals judging the deeds of heaven are not right, and it is better for them to accept the deeds of God. The passing of his cousin was God’s will and the poet can never refuse it.
Yet is remembrance of those virtues dear,
Yet fresh the memory of that beauteous face;
Still they call forth my warm affection’s tear,
Still in my heart retain their wonted place.
Even though he understands everything; it was God’s will to take her away, and where she is now is a beautiful place, yet he feels pain.
The poet says that it is remembering his beautiful cousin, her virtuous deeds, and her lovely face that brings tears to his eyes. It is the warm affection of his towards Margaret that makes his eyes water.
The poem concludes with the poet saying that even though the woman is no more, her memories and the affection he had for her still remain in the very same place.
The Theme and Essence of the Poem
The main theme of the poem is loss, grief, and affection toward someone who is not with us anymore. But the poem’s theme dives deeper than that.
The poet also talks about the acceptance of fate, and whatever God has planned for someone. It is not our place to question these things.
When people leave this mortal realm for someplace higher, it is not just their bodies that they leave behind, but they also leave behind their impression on us.
We remember them in our memories with our affection. The poet says that no matter where Margaret is, the place in his heart for her will always be hers.
The loss of a loved one is not easy, and it takes a heavy toll on the people who were close to the departed. Lord Byron shows that even in such conditions, there is something that can give us comfort.
It is the understanding of the inevitability of fate, the authority of God, and the knowledge that the person who has left us is someplace even better than this mortal realm.
But most importantly, Lord Byron tells the readers that the person who has left us has not completely gone. They are still present in our hearts, in places that are exclusively for them.
They live in our memories and in our thoughts.
Read more by Lord Byron: Stanzas of Music poem analysis