Analysis of the poem

1. Heart and Mind
Edith Sitwell

2. Writer’s background information
Edith Sitwell was born on September the 7th of 1887 in the United Kingdom.
She was the eldest daughter of an aristocratic family.
She was a poet and critic.
She became a Dame Commander in 1954 and a year later, she converted to
Roman Catholicism

3. SAID the Lion to the Lioness-'When you are amber dust,-
No more a raging fire like the heat of the Sun
(No liking but all lust)-
Remember still the flowering of the amber blood and bone,
The rippling of bright muscles like a sea,
Remember the rose-prickles of bright paws
Though the fire of that sun the heart and the moon-cold bone are one.'
Said the Skeleton lying upon the sands of Time-
'The great gold planet that is the mourning heat of the Sun
Is greater than all gold, more powerful
Than the tawny body of a Lion that fire consumes
Like all that grows or leaps...so is the heart
More powerful than all dust. Once I was Hercules
Or Samson, strong as the pillars of the seas:
But the flames of the heart consumed me, and the mind
Is but a foolish wind.'
Said the Sun to the Moon-'When you are but a lonely white crone,
And I, a dead King in my golden armour somewhere in a dark wood,
Remember only this of our hopeless love
That never till Time is done
Will the fire of the heart and the fire of the mind be one.'

4. Stanza 1
SAID the Lion to the Lioness-'When you are amber dust,-
No more a raging fire like the heat of the Sun
(No liking but all lust)-
Remember still the flowering of the amber blood and bone,
The rippling of bright muscles like a sea,
Remember the rose-prickles of bright paws
Though the fire of that sun the heart and the moon-cold
bone are one.'
Lioness: a female lion.
Amber: a yellow, red, or brown translucent
fossil resin used in jewelry.
Raging: showing violent uncontrollable anger
Lust: very strong sexual desire
Rippling: to (cause to) have small waves
rose-prickles: spines of the flower
Paws: an animal's foot having claws and pads
● Conversation between a lion and a lioness.
● The glory of our existence should be
remembered even when we are dead.
● Amber Dust: beauty even in death.
● Remember the wonderful things of nature,
because you won't be forever able to see them.
● We can live on together forever in our memory.
He is saying even after death, we will continue
to live on in our minds. No matter how powerful
you are, there is no escape from death and you
will become dust lost in the wind.
● The lion believes the heart and the mind can be
one, which is a philosophy that is debated
throughout the poem.

5. Stanza 2
Said the Skeleton lying upon the sands of Time-
'The great gold planet that is the mourning heat of the Sun
Is greater than all gold, more powerful
Than the tawny body of a Lion that fire consumes
Like all that grows or leaps...so is the heart
Mourning: the expression of deep sorrow for someone who has died.
Tawny: of an orange-brown or yellowish-brown color.
Grows: increase, expand, develop
Leaps:to jump with great force
● The Skeleton speaks of being consumed by
the ‘flames of the heart’.
● Metaphor: Sun is the heart.
● It ensures the sun, representing the heart,
is the most powerful thing of the world,
while the mind is weak and unpowerful.

6. Stanza 3
More powerful than all dust. Once I was Hercules
Or Samson, strong as the pillars of the seas:
But the flames of the heart consumed me, and the mind
Is but a foolish wind.'
Hercules or Samson: Strong and powefrul
superheroes.
Pillars of the seas: the supposed boundary-columns
at the entrance of the Mediterranean.
● Even Hercules or Samson could
defeat and were betrayed and
undone by love (the heart)
● The heart defeated and consumed
them and the mind was a weak and
irrelevant thing.

7. Stanza 4
Said the Sun to the Moon-'When you are but a lonely white crone,
And I, a dead King in my golden armour somewhere in a dark wood,
Remember only this of our hopeless love
That never till Time is done
Will the fire of the heart and the fire of the mind be one.'
Crone: an old woman who is thin and ugly
● Emotions are separated from intellect.
● They are both important for man but
both can never meet.
● Heart and mind: hopeless love
● Both should be used and paid attention
at the time of taking decisions.

8. Literary Analysis
Voice: Lion, Lioness, Skeleton, Moon and Sun
Theme: Wisdom, love for nature, connection between heart and mind
Tone: Depressing, but later changes for advising and wisely.
Images: "Raging Fire" visual "Foolish Wind" auditory "Dark Wood" visual