The speaker sets two living friends beside one dead one. Ruth is dear for her transparency—clear as dew or green water over sand. Mary is dearer, rich with color and story, imagined with silver footsteps and a golden touch. But Eunice, who is dead, is dearest of all. The second song turns to Eunice as the keeper of everything the speaker could not be or hold onto: the princess, the fairy, the unfinished game, the dreamed castle, the unspoken word, the doll, the heart, broken promises. Only in Eunice’s dust do these lost things seem safe, fair, and clear. Resting with her, the speaker imagines, would restore belief in elves, knights, love, and God. The mood is tender and sorrowful, yet almost consoling—bitterness that the dearest one is gone, mixed with relief that death preserves what life could not.
Two Songs of Bitterness — Summary
Dear to me is Ruth, a bowl of crystal She brims her heart with laughter and I look And see her clear as the dew on a cobweb, Or green water over white sand in a brook.
Mary is dearer, color and story Are wound in her and like soft cloths unfold, And when she moves her footsteps are of silver, And where she will her touch can turn to gold.
Oh sweet as wine is laughter with the loving, And speech with the living good as bread, But only with a ghost can I feast in silence, With Eunice, who is dearest, being dead.
The princess that I could not be, The fairy that was not for me, The game begun and never ended, The castle dreamed, the play pretended. The note unsung, the word unspoken, Whatever I have lost and broken. My doll, my heart, my promises. All these things Eunice is — When I lie down with her to rest, I'll find my dearest and my best Safe in her dust beneath the sod. Kept fair and clear and written plain, And then I shall believe again In elves and knights and love and God.