MB UNIUD

Witchcraft by a Picture - ANALYSIS

Reading the title the reader understands there is an unusual picture that is associated to a witchcraft: it creates curiosity and the reader wonders how a painting can play a witchcraft on somebody; I think the title has to be considered on an allegorical level: a witchcraft isn't only a supernatural phenomenon, it can also refer to an emotion that a person doesn't expect to feel.

The poem speaks about two lovers: he wants to leave, but she doesn't want to be abandoned and cries; the man expresses his feelings due to his lover's reactions: he look at her sight and realizes his image is damaged; as a result he feels guilty but he also believes she is killing him through negative images about him.

However he is going to leave her: he thinks all pictures will disappear and he won't suffer because of them; the image she will keep in her heart will be preserved  from resentment.

The poem is organized into two stanzas, that distinguish each other from the temporal point of view: the first one concerns present, the second one refers to a future situation; since the 2^nd stanza is introduced by the expression but now the reader understands there is a transformation: it is an improvement because the previous lines are full of words referring to grief and sadness.. the speaking voice has found a solution.

The reflection starts from an observation: he looks at her eye.

Actually it seems like if his eye was stuck on her eye: as a result he can see through her sight and can know how he appears to her; the overlap is conveyed by the assonance mine-eye-thine. The verb to fix  demonstrates he wants to observe carefully and deeply.

In the first four lines there are several words referring  to the sense of sight (eye,2,picture,2): as a matter of fact the poet isn't considering his or her identities, but the idea she has built about his personality, that is only an image, less complete than his substance; in this case there is a negative image.

Moreover eyes are generally considered one's body part, that reveal thoughts and inner emotions; when the speaking voice observes her eye he's really trying to discover her opinions.

The poet refers twice to the woman's eye, adding an useless and already given piece of information   (there- in thine eye); his aim is to underline the man's point of view: he associates his negative picture to the lady in order to say it has been built in her mind.  The same concept is conveyed at line 6: the man believes she is wrong, she is guilty; he doesn't accept that picture may reflect a truth in his personality, because he believes that it will disappear when he leaves her (I'll depart/ my picture vanish'd): it doesn't depend on him but on a wrong interpretation by the woman.

Looking at the picture provokes some grief: pitty my picture- I looke lower I espie; the alliteration of the sound P emphasizes the idea of sadness.

He's ashamed of what he sees because it makes him feel guilty and puts him down to a lower position than the woman, since her feelings influence him so much.

The shame is due to image negativity, conveyed by burning and drown'd: it is weak and it's crumbling away, that is to say her opinion about him is getting worse.

In addition the adjective burning reminds of fire, a symbol for passion, while tear proves she is suffering for him; the adjective transparent conveys the idea of something that is easily comprehensible: the woman is showing her own feelings in a direct and vivid way. Just from these elements the reader understands she is passionate, emotional and really loves him.

After taking his suffering into consideration , he attributes the grief cause to the woman who creates pictures in herself and returns pieces of information about him he doesn't like; actually she only behaves answering to his actions: instead he makes a process called "projection", therefore he doesn't realize his errors, believing the woman is mistaking.

The rhyme skill-will-kill connects their meanings and underlines the man's point of view.

The 2^nd stanza presents a change: he decides to depart after having drunke thy sweet salt tears.

The oxymoron sweet-salt, emphasized by the alliteration, reveals tears' different values: they are sweet because they demonstrate her love for him, they are salt because they reveal him a negative image and make him suffer.

The man has faced her tears and the piteous picture enough: the use of the present perfect communicates the action is finished but it has provoked a present result: as a matter of fact the speaking voice has learnt and now he knows what to do.

Lines 10 and 11 are the explanation of the reasons why he leaves her alone: he won't look at his negative image and he won't suffer more.

The word order my picture ... ... feares creates a connection between the first and the last word and lets readers understand he's afraid of discovering his real portraits; moreover it puts the verb "to vanish" into evidence, because it is the aim he wants to achieve.

Also the rhyme teares-feares unveils the cause of his fear: her tears reflect his shameful image and he can be endamaged by that art.

By that art, similarly to by pictures, reveals he isn't really hurt by the woman, by her personality or actions, but by his projection into her; he doesn't understand the concept and his decision to leave proves it.

The reader understands his argumentation is made up of selfishness: since the woman shows him what he really is, a person with weaknesses and faults, he can't stand her because he isn't humble, he believes she wants to kill him, he would like to be praised and not to suffer and he prefers to go away; even if he loves her, his feeling is too rational, as the reader can understand considering the semantic field of war (burning, kill, espie, wicked...).