The speaker looks back in wonder at how she’s changed in a short time. Not long ago, she was hurled about on waves of passion and pain, her brain hot and wild. Now, she lies calm, still, and silent, simply watching and waiting—waiting passively without struggle. The darkness she once peered into has faded. In its place, a vast, grey, bare landscape stretches before her eyes. She begins to see through the shifting appearances of the world and recognizes an “Inevitable Law” at work, some steady truth or fate she must accept. Yet in her heart, a faint flicker of feeling persists. It’s hard to name—half a hope, half a despair. The poem creates a quiet, exhausted mood, a sense of relief after suffering, but also a lingering emotional suspension, as if the speaker is holding her breath, not yet fully settled.
Sonnet — Summary
Most wonderful and strange it seems, that I Who but a little time ago was tost High on the waves of passion and of pain, With aching heat and wildly throbbing brain, Who peered into the darkness, deeming vain All things there found if but One thing were lost, Thus calm and still and silent here should lie, Watching and waiting, --waiting passively.
The dark has faded, and before mine eyes Have long, grey flats expanded, dim and bare; And through the changing guises all things wear Inevitable Law I recognise: Yet in my heart a hint of feeling lies Which half a hope and half a despair.