Jewel Stairs' Grievance: Li PO / Ezra Journal

Jewel Stairs' Grievance: Li PO / Ezra Pound

We can assume from the poet's heritage that the speaker is an Asian woman. However, there are further contextual cues that aid in the understanding of "The Jewel Stairs' Grievance." For one, the opening line refers to "jeweled steps," which indicates a place of some wealth or importance. There is sexual innuendo throughout the poem: the dew, the gauze stockings, and the "crystal curtain" symbolize female sexuality. The moon is also a female symbol, corresponding with her monthly cycle. The moon also corresponds to the fact that it is late, signifying that the speaker is likely to be a concubine.

Shakespeare's Sonnet 73

The speaker is likely to be an older or mature man. He states, "In me thou seest the twilight of such day." The first half of the sonnet is filled with imagery of autumn, symbolizing aging and even possibly impending death. It would seem this is a speaker acting as a mentor, and relating to a younger person the inevitability of aging and mortality.However, the line "Death's second self, that seals up all in rest" also suggests that the speaker is not necessarily referring to death, but merely to sleep. Sleep is "death's second self," and "rest" is the act of sleeping. The next few lines divulge the fact that the speaker is someone who is growing older, but who is not yet old. He is no longer a youth, and is coming to terms with that fact in the first half of the sonnet. Yet the person is also still filled with life and creativity. "In me thou see'stthe glowing of such fire / That on the ashes of his youth doth lie." He is very much aware that one day he will die (As the death-bed whereon it must expire) but he is not ready yet; he still has life to live and wisdom to give. The entire sonnet is a meditation on the transient nature of life, and the transient nature of all things. We are not taken off guard by the ending, because.....