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Through four stanzas- each contributing to the gradual build-up of the central theme of the poem- Edith
Sitwell skillfully conveys the distinct difference between love and lust
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As the title implies, Sitwell also emphasizes on the two sources of the two human emotions of
love and lust, the ‘Heart and Mind’ respectively
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This poem comprises an inconsistent rhyme scheme and structure
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Personification is used to provide the various essence of
nature seen in the poem- the ‘Lion’, the ‘Skeleton’ and the ‘Sun’- with human-like characteristics (talking
and feeling)
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The poem commences with a vivid picture of a Lion talking to his Lioness about inevitable death; he is
calculating the consequences he might face as soon as his lover is one with the ‘dust’ (The word ‘dust’
denotes a living being’s perishable, mortal life-span)
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The readers capture a glimpse of the Lion’s narcissistic side: clearly, he is not emotionally
moved by the thought that his beloved would cease to exist, all he worries about is losing his Lioness’s
beauty and fulfilling his pleasure
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The lion admired the lioness for her ‘flowering’ beauty
but, never for who she was within
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We can assume that the
thoughts of his ‘Mind’ solely cater to the development of lust; he lacks the unconditional love from the
Heart
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’ -this sentence brings in the
elements of time and paradox into the poem
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The mentioned ‘fire of the sun’ and the cold
‘moon’ signify a paradoxical allusion and metaphor to how two things can never be compatible or be
complementary to one another- the sun and the moon can never be ‘one’ even after eons later
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Through the
Lion’s persona, Sitwell portrays men who lack intellectual and emotional understanding of love: they are
shallow and self-centered - they do not find the time to admire their lover’s inner beauty
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‘Said the Skeleton lying upon the sands of Time’- this line introduces a perspective
different from the Lion’s monologue (this stanza focuses on love from the Heart)
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The
‘Skeleton’ adds-on to this by stating, ‘mourning heat of the Sun/ Is greater than all gold…’ The warm
feeling of love exceeds the value of all precious metal and riches
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However, the

‘Heart’ does beat (‘leaps’) and learn from feelings and experiences felt alongside the lover (‘grows’) these remain untouched even through the ‘sands of time’, even after death
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Here, she provides a
neutral perspective on both the emotions by denoting that the two do have their own disadvantages
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Samson, a great hero from the biblical story of the Old Testament, was tricked and misled by his lover
Delilah; he followed his heart and was blinded by his lust
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These heroes were once as
‘strong as the pillars of the seas’
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Both the emotions laid waste to their being: their tales of love are ‘more powerful
than dust’ as the mistakes they once made with love still remain intact for all the time that came
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Unlike the Lion in the first
stanza, the Sun craves for his beloved Moon’s love and affection even when he knows that all his
attempts are futile
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He mourns for her and the sad future that awaits them- ‘hopeless love that never till Time is done will
the fire of the heart and fire of the mind be one’
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Both physical
and emotional love are extremely distinct, each with their own positives and disadvantages; but, when
combined and controlled they create a timeless bond between the lovers
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Without passing any judgement herself, Edith Sitwell proficiently depicts her message about ‘love’ and
‘lust’
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It is essential to create a good balance between these two emotions
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It is
unwise to live only for lust like the ‘Lion’ but, it is equally unwise to submit oneself fully to love from the
heart and let it control their very existence like the two heroes of the past
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