Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
Lines 49-52
And ever when the moon was low,
And the shrill winds were up and away,
In the white curtain, to and fro,
She saw the gusty shadow sway.
- The moon is out and so is the wind. It sounds like another gloomy night.
- The wind is described as "shrill," almost like it has a voice.
- So, is she hearing voices now?
- It's possible. There's even a shadow moving about the room, though it's probably just the white curtain.
- She may be so lonely that she's seeing and hearing things that aren't actually there. Things are getting kind of freaky.
Lines 53-56
But when the moon was very low
And wild winds bound within their cell,
The shadow of the poplar fell
Upon her bed, across her brow.
- We get it: the moon was low. (There's some more anaphora for ya, Shmoopers.)
- The speaker says the winds are bound inside a "cell." Hmm—could this be a metaphor for jail?
- It seems like this landscape exists in a very small space. The woman doesn't go very far from the farmhouse. It's almost like her grief has put her in jail.
- Metaphorically, then, Mariana's life is a prison sentence—at least, that's how she feels.
Lines 57-60
She only said, "The night is dreary,
He cometh not," she said;
She said "I am aweary, aweary,
I would that I were dead!"