Paia M

10 October y

Weep You No More,

Sad Fountains
Comment closely on the poem Weep You No More,
Sad Fountains, discussing ways in which the poet
employs key words to have different meanings in
relation to death and mourning.
In the poem Weep You No More, Sad Fountains the poet implements the
key words: Sleep/Sleeping, Weep and Weeping to give the
concepts within the poem more than one meaning, especially when in
relation to death and mourning. Although this poem is believed to have
been written for Queen Elizabeth Is Death, These substitute meanings, I
believe give the poem a greater relevancy to all those who mourn.
The very first word of the poem is Weep. This is the first key word which
gives two different yet very important interpretations of the following
piece of context ,sad fountains. The poet employed the word Weep as
an imperative and the use of an this command personifies the sad
fountains making the fountains seemingly capable of having emotions. In
the poem the fountains are portrayed as being sad. I believe that links can
be made between the sad fountains to that of the human eyes when
mourning. Although this interpretation provides a greater relevancy to all
those who mourn, a viewpoint i stated earlier, I believe that the second
vital inference can be made when the fountains are seen as a reference
or a means to address the rich and the wealthy. In the elizabethan era
only the aristocrats and courtiers could afford to fund such grand displays.
Therefore many commentators believe that this poem was written for
Queen Elizabeth Is death because only those who were personally
affected by her passing were those who were rich and could afford
fountains.

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Fountains however were unnecessary and just for show Hence the
following line what need you flow so fast?. Maybe this was just the poets
way of saying to the aristocrats to just stop weeping so much because
youre overdoing it, its too much?
The next key word Sleep and Sleeping both hold great significance
because on the surface we naturally associate sleep to have clear links to
death and can even be a metaphor for it. Yet when sleeps definition is
understood by its original meaning a very different viewpoint can be
understood. To grasp the two different understandings I chose to look at
the entire two lines:
Sleep is a reconciling,
A rest that peace begets:
Now the First inference that I think can be made is that Sleep is simply a
metaphor for death. The only rest that peace begets: Truly, is death,
hence the saying Rest In Peace (R.I.P). That is of course if you go to
heaven! However I also believe that the poet has implemented a double
entendre here whereby the other significant meaning of Sleep is a
reconciling refers to the fact that as you sleep your thoughts and
emotions are somewhat reset, to an extent overnight. You wake up in a
more stable condition. Just like when I get into arguments with my parents
for example, and running away seems like a good option. If I sleep on it I
usually forget about it in the morning therefore in this sense sleep is a
means of emotional healing. To further support this concept the word
peace I believe is an allusion to the bible scripture Psalm 4:8 which
reads: In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me
dwell in safety.
Weeping is already a word which heavily relates to death and mourning
but yet again, the surrounding content of the word weeping brings
another crucial viewpoint. However the alternative opinion I have also
relates to death and brings to mind a second intention that the poet may
have had when writing the poem:
Look how the snowy mountains
Heavens sun doth gently waste.
But my suns heavenly eyes
View not your weeping,
Weeping goes hand-in-hand with mourning, when you mourn you weep.
Within the extract above, the poet introduces an entity called the
Heavens son and metaphorically says that this sun is the cause of

ENGLISH ESSAY

weeping whereby your eyes again are characterised by the snowy

mountains. The poet says that this sun melts the mountains,
metaphorically saying that it is the cause of your weeping. However in the
following line he personalises this sun saying But my suns heavenly eyes
View not your weeping, This is where I believe that the poets intended
purpose for this poem was to assist those who are mourning. This is
supported if you interpret that my sun refers to the cause of your
personal mourning or rather the person who has died and so the poet is
saying that the person you are weeping for doesn't see or hear you weep
and probably wont want you to be in such emotional hurt. This is where
my alternative perspective is supported that rather than this poem being
solely written for the Queens death and those who were affected, the
poem stands as a means of assistance and holds great relevancy to all
who mourn over the death of someone and can have effect in all eras.
The other two main reasons that this poem was believed to be written for
the Queens death is the leading theory that this poem was written by
John Dowland as well as the line While she lies sleeping.
The poet was very clever when choosing the words for this poem
especially those which we naturally relate to death and mourning.
Although vital perspectives can be gained through the original meaning of
the words, other alternative yet equally important concepts can be gained
from the content surrounding these key words and the context that we
understand them. This gives readers the reason to believe that yes,
maybe this was meant for the Queens passing (and there is sufficient
evidence to support this, as discussed), but also maybe that whilst
composing this poem the poet had in mind the emotional state of
everyone who experiences a significant loss. This is why I support the idea
that the effect of these key words is to address not only the aristocrats of
the era but all those who mourn and grieve at the death of someone
close.

ENGLISH ESSAY

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