"Ah! songstress sad! that such my lot might be,
To sigh and sing at liberty--like thee!’’
In the poem entitled "To a Nightingale’’, the narrator analyzes a bird used as a symbol by many romantic poets. The narrator starts the poem by pitying the bird and wondering why the bird sings such a sad song. As time progresses however, the narrator realizes that the bird is actually in a privileged position because it is free and because the bird can do anything it wants. Because of this, at the end of the poem the narrator utters the words from above, expressing herself and telling the reader she would like to be like the bird as well. The reason why the narrator claims this is because as a woman, the narrator is constrained by the society in which she lives in and by the rules she has to obey. The nightingale does not have to obey those rules and thus the narrator expresses her desire to be just like the nightingale, free to do what she wants and when she wants.
"(…) those years
Have taught me so much sorrow, that my soul
Feels not the joy reviving Nature brings;’’
In the poem entitled "The Emigrants’’, the narrator talks about how time changed her. The poem begins with the narrator claiming she once used to feel happiness but that changed once she grew up and learned more about the world. From that point on the narrator became unable to find happiness, seeing only the negative side of things. This quote is important because it represents the main theme of the poem and also transmits the idea that time changes us and not always for the better.
"And violets, lurking in their turfy beds
Beneath the flowering thorn, are stained with blood.’’
In this poem, the narrator analyzes the ways in which the world is transformed for the worse and he mentions among other elements that transform humanity, wars. The wars nations wage against one another affect everyone and even nature suffers, being bathed in blood and tinted by the violence of the nations. This quote is important because it shows the way in which war affects humanity and also the natural environment.
