Section 6 Summary

Lines 107-110

OUR LADY OF WALSINGHAM
There once the penitents took off their shoes And then walked barefoot the remaining mile; 
And the small trees, a stream and hedgerows file Slowly along the munching English lane, 

• First up, a geography note: Walsingham is a shrine in Norfolk, England, where a vision of the Virgin Mary was one seen. Our setting has certainly changed from the seaside graveyard in Nantucket. The "penitents" are people coming to ask for forgiveness.
• It's a quiet scene; the violent sea, full of drowning sailors, thunder, and whale guts, is nowhere to be seen. The speaker is creating a peaceful scene to create a contrast between the previous sections; let's read on to see why.

Lines 111-114

Like cows to the old shrine, until you lose
Track of your dragging pain.
The stream flows down under the druid tree,
Shiloah's whirlpools gurgle and make glad 

• Now he's comparing the people to cows; are these people simple and dumb, like animals being herded, when they make the pilgrimage to visit the shrine? 
• Whatever they come for, they are momentarily distracted from their "dragging pain." The holy site distracts them from the problems (physical or mental) that follow them around.
• Or is it just the idea of the site being holy that distracts them? Whatever the case, it's a very calm place. "Shiloah's whirlpools" refers to peaceful waters found in John 9:7. In that verse, Christ tells a blind man to go wash his face in the waters of Siloam, and then he is able to see.
• Though peaceful, Lowell's allusion to this verse indicates that these waters are also powerful. Walsingham is a place where people go to find relief and healing.

Lines 115-118

The castle of God. Sailor, you were glad
And whistled Sion by that stream. But see:
Our Lady, too small for her canopy,
Sits near the altar. There's no comeliness 

• This is the second section to be broken into two stanzas. This break gives us a moment to pause and slow the pace of the poem.
• This site makes the "castle of God" glad. Apparently, it has God's blessing.
• The sailor is here, and the site makes him glad, too. He's whistling a tune about "Sion," which is "God's holy hill at Jerusalem" according to Psalms 2:6. In Isaiah 51:11, the Jewish people return there, singing. The sailor is doing the same; he's found his holy land.
• There's a statue of the Lady, and she seems small compared to her surroundings (a "canopy" could refer to anything that hangs above her, like tree limbs). Perhaps she's not as magnificent as one would expect. 
• She's not attractive ("comely") either. There is something modest about the statue; her description matches the description of the grounds, which are simple and peaceful.

Lines 119-121

At all or charm in that expressionless
Face with its heavy eyelids. As before,
This face, for centuries a memory,

• Well, she's not particularly charming, either. In fact, the Lady's face is without any expression, and kinda sleepy-looking. Let's face it: a looker she ain't.
• "For centuries a memory" makes her face sound like something many people saw and couldn't forget. It wasn't her beauty (because the speaker just said she has none) or her charm (she doesn't have that, either), so it must be something else that makes her face so memorable.

Lines 122-126

Non est species, neque decor,
Expressionless, expresses God: it goes
Past castled Sion. She knows what God knows,
Not Calvary's Cross nor crib at Bethlehem
Now, and the world shall come to Walsingham.

• No, your eyes aren't broken; line 122 is Latin. It translates to "Neither form nor comeliness." Like our speaker said earlier, she isn't particularly beautiful or full of expression.
• But in this lack of expression, Lowell says, is what "expresses God." Sound confusing? Because we can't tell what she's thinking, we can't tell what God might be thinking. He's not something, or someone, we can understand.
• It's not something we can find in the holy land or at any other holy place (like Calvary's Cross or Bethlehem, where Jesus was born); whatever it is that she knows, it isn't found on earth. She knows God's secrets, and she ain't tellin.'
• But, the world still keeps coming to this holy site to see her and try to see what God is thinking. We keep looking for meaning, just like the drowning Quakers looked for meaning in their deaths when they called out to God.