By Madison Nef
The poem I chose is proof that a poem does not have to be long to have a deep meaning. The poem “Fragment” has only 3 lines, but a very deep meaning that pulled me in almost immediately. Breaking it down line by line, here is what I came up with:
“The body, Eternal Shadow of the finite soul”
The first “line” of the poem is just two words: “the body”. This can either be read as just one piece of the poem, or you could put it in front of each sentence to give the poem a whole different meaning. When using it as only one piece, the poem seems to talk about the connection between our bodies and souls. The “Eternal Shadow” is described as a piece of the soul- but Coleridge describes the soul as finite. I think the “eternal shadow” may refer to our bodies. While our bodies do decompose, they will ALWAYS be on Earth and be a part of Earth- functioning or not. Even after your body is reduced to ash, you are still a part of the world- even if just an imprint within the ground. A shadow is a form of imprint.
(The body) the Soul’s self-symbol, it’s image of itself.
(Meaning 1, with “the body”) If our souls are conscious of themselves, then their self image would technically be of our “body”, which contains them for our time here on Earth. A snail’s shell serves as its home for its life- the shell is very important. A self-symbol. Without our bodies, our souls wouldn’t be able to survive on Earth.
(Meaning 2, without “the body”) Tying in with the first part of the poem, this meaning pretty much ties in with our souls residing WITHIN our bodies, controlling us like (more or less) puppets. If you don’t put “the body” in front of the line, it pretty much says that the Eternal Shadow of the soul is it’s self-symbol. This makes sense, being the “Eternal Shadow” (as deciphered in the last part) represents the demise of the human body. Leaving its mortal body behind would allow the soul to leave and be able to have its own freedom with no restrictions.
(The body) it’s own yet not itself.”
(Meaning 1, with “the body”) This ties in beautifully with the last part. The body is technically its own being; HOWEVER it is not “itself” because the soul is in control of the body. The soul is also its own being, but with more power than the body (which is why the soul has more control over it).
(Meaning 2, without “the body”) This is more from the soul’s perspective. Without putting “the body” in front of the line, you still have the soul talking about its image of itself. However, this line goes against that and says that while it is the soul’s own image; it is not how the soul sees itself. Perhaps the soul looks different from us, but being trapped in our body sees it as us. That would explain the misperception of the look: the soul WANTS to see itself but is almost trapped by our body. Going right back to the title, “Fragment”- the soul is only seeing a fragment of itself within us… but our body and soul is just a fragment of us… and we in total are just a fragment of this world.
There are many different views to be taken on this poem- everyone sees something different. This is just my perspective- a FRAGMENT of what the poem likely means. Maybe I over-thought the poem- maybe it is just a basic no-brainer. On the other hand, maybe I’m just scratching the surface of a truly deeper meaning. Let me know what YOU think.
Maddie
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