Fear no more the heat o' the sun;
Nor the furious winter's rages,
Thou thy worldly task hast done,
Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages;
Golden lads and girls all must,
As chimney sweepers come to dust.
Fear no more the frown of the great,
Thou art past the tyrant's stroke:
Care no more to clothe and eat;
To thee the reed is as the oak:
The sceptre, learning, physic, must
All follow this, and come to dust.
Fear no more the lightning-flash,
Nor the all-dread thunder-stone;
Fear not slander, censure rash;
Thou hast finished joy and moan;
All lovers young, all lovers must
Consign to thee, and come to dust.
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What I gather from this poem is the concept that everyone is equal in the end. Everyone lives a different life, some "golden lads and girls" and others chimney sweeps, but in death, we are all the same thing: dust. In the end, our money will be home along with our homes and education. Everyone is equal in death. In addition, the poem explains that we should not be afraid of or annoyed by the little things, because they are insignificant in the broad scheme of things. They only keep us from living our lives to the fullest.
ReplyDeleteThis poem reminds me of the Switchfoot song, "Gone." The song talks about the insignificance of worldly items and famous people who end up sharing the same fate as everyone else. Ultimately, we all are going to die at some point so the poem teaches that we should not be absorbed in our own fears and worries of the day.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a very spiritual song. God is narrating and he's telling us that we no longer need to fear anything in this world, because we are dead and with him. The golden boys and girls mentioned turned into chimney sweeps over time, but now they are dust and need to worry. All lovers are also dust and no longer need to be afraid, because they are no longer in the world. Their love cannot be taken from them.
ReplyDeleteTo me, this poem is very uplifting. It has a great message and I definately agree with Abby about God telling us that we don't need to fear because we will be with him one day. Thats exactly what came to mind when I read this poem. All of the insignificant things that worry and frighten us now will seem silly and very small one day when we are with him. I also gather from this poem that we take material things way to seriously. Especially food and clothes, we go to restraunts and sit for hours for just one meal. We also go to the mall and other stores constantly and spend too much money on "designer"clothing when the money could definately be better spent somewhere else. One day, we will die and all of that time and money wasted will not help us nor anyone else. One should find their purpose in life, and devote their time and energy into fulfilling their calling to the best of their ability.
ReplyDeleteI think this poem is saying that when we die everything we know now will not matter anymore. Shakespeare is saying that everyone will become equal before God, and not have to fear earthly things.
ReplyDelete-Katie Toth
This poem really got me thinking about all the useless junk that I, at one point or another, begged my parents to get me. Now I don't even know where most of it is. What I got out of this poem is that the things that seem important now really aren't important at all in the bigger picture. To me, this poem says that you should focus more on everyone as a whole instead of just yourself and what you want.
ReplyDelete-Kaitlyn Sabourin
I think this poem is saying you can not fear what happens on Earth. That once you die it will not matter anymore. Earthy things do not have value after you die.
ReplyDeleteThis poem to me sounds like a children's story that would be said to a young kid before bed.
ReplyDeletePatrick Evans
It's interesting that so many of your referenced songs in your comment. This was originally a song that is part of the play Cymbeline, one of Shakespeare's lesser known works. Loreena McKinnett did a lovely rendition of the song on her album Book of Secrets several years ago. If you Google her name you should be able to find the song called "Cymbeline," which is essentially this poem.
ReplyDeletehmm so i'm getting that shakespeare says we're all going to die and become dust. And then we wouldn't have any troubles anymore. no need to be afraid of lighting or care about the weather and we'll be free! but then we won't be able to feel anything at all and never will again. in fact we wouldn't exist anymore and people will forget. then it would be as if we never existed in the first place. hmm well i'll have fun with this life and try to make others life better, mine's not worth that much anyway. thanks Shakespeare! :)
ReplyDeletePhilip Wolfe
It sounds like a song. I bet it's really sad and sweet.
ReplyDeleteShakespeare is saying that no matter how many things people have in life, it won't matter once they die. Everyone becomes equal at that point.
ReplyDelete-Amanda Akridge
I think that Shakespeare is saying that we should not fear death because people may seem very unequal on earth, but when we die everyone will be dust. We should try to live a good life and excell at whatever we do because in the end it will not matter how rich you are, but it will matter how well you lived your life.
ReplyDeleteI think this poem is telling us to not be afraid of death. We are all going to die sometime, and we should not spend our short lives worrying about things in the natural world beyond our control.
ReplyDelete-Zhijian Xing
Shakespeare may be saying everything is equal in the end, but he also seems a little negative. After all, not only are the unpleasant experiences coming to an end, but the pleasant ones as well, like joy and love.
ReplyDeleteCarley
Shakespeare also is telling us that while death is dreaded by many people some people wait that time to come. For those people who had horrible lives it was seen as freedom from all of their sufferings. When death came they no longer needed to fear each and every day.
ReplyDeleteSeveral things come to mind when reading this poem. First off, it reminds me of Thanatopsis, by William Cullen Bryant, because the poem seems to take the fear out of dying. It also makes me think about a passage from the bible that says, "So do not worry, saying, `What shall we eat?' or `What shall we drink?' or `What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:31-34
ReplyDeleteI feel that the speaker is reffering to human nature. I feel that he is talking about how we fear and worry about the little things and live life and not fear death which all people face sooner or later. We should not fear things but find the beauty and grace each adds to our life.
ReplyDeleteTo Philip Wolfe- way to be cynicle. :P There are two ways to interpret this poem- optimistically or cynically. One may take it as, "oh, we never mattered anyway," or, "oh, why waste time with these silly things I hardly need anyway," depending on your automatic mind-set. It makes me wonder why he says, "chimney sweepers come to dust," as opposed to all other manner of people who come to dust, as chimney sweepers deal primarily with dust. Is this to say that we end where we begin, or we end where we stay the most?
ReplyDeleteThis poem is pretty straightforward in my opinion. Basically, you're dead and nothing matters now. Also, you're not the only one to die, others will also follow suit. Nothing is forever.
ReplyDeleteI think this poem is trying to say that in the end death will come, but should never feared of greatly. Also, many other people will die and have the same fate as anybody.
ReplyDeleteJust to make sure I'm not crazy, the continual referal to turning to dust is Shakespeare reffereingth Genesis and the whole 'from dust you are, and to dust you shall return' to bring familiarity with his audience, like the Julius Caesar as a Christ figure, right?
ReplyDeleteIt seems kind of weird, because it sounds to me like he isn't saying to not fear death necessarily, but that it happens all the time. The same technique with the "An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge". Also, I feel like he's saying that death is the great leveler. Not in an "ideal socialist" way, more like a "well, hate to break it to ya, but it doesn't get any better" way.
i think God wants us to live our life to the fullest and not worry about when we will die or how we will die. Cause we will all be in his house one day.
ReplyDeleteThis peom reminds me of "live, love, laugh." I think Shakespere was ahead of his times in writing it because I don't think people appreiated the whole "live, love, laugh" attitude when he was writing in medival times but maybe that is part of the reason that Shakespere is so popular, that he can write things that are ahead of his time and that transcend time.
ReplyDeletesorry mine was the one just before this I just forgot to put my name
ReplyDeleteLauren Payne