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White Heliotrope By Arthur Symon

511 Words3 Pages

Our memory plays a large role in our daily lives, it’s how we remember what we need to do, when we need to do it, people we have met, friends, family, and people when they’re no longer with us. But along with remembrance comes loss. We forget as time goes on, as people change, and as we age. In the poem “White Heliotrope”, poet Arthur Symons, explores the idea of longing to remember a loved one when they have become someone else, but instead losing those memories, through his use of imagery and symbolism. Symons first explores the sudden realization of losing the memories of a loved one. The room is described as feverish (Symons 1) and the scene is a mess with skirts on a chair (Symons 2) a half-open novel (Symons 3), a hat, hair-pins, puffs, and paints spread (Symons 4). The description of the room allows the reader to realize how sudden the loss was, as the room is a mess and feverish, and seems as though someone left in a hurry. Loss comes very quickly and unexpectedly, yet there’s nothing we can do to prevent it. I have experienced loss, and just like the room described by Symons, it seems as though they leave in a hurry. You’re not ever sure when you will last see them, and take your memories for granted. This sudden occurrence causes you shock, and you begin to long for them. …show more content…

“The mirror that has sucked your face” (Symons 5). Symons sees his love in the mirror, yet they seem to appear differently. “And there mysteriously keeps/Forgotten memories of grace” (Symons 7-8). The mirror is shown to be taking everything from Symons, this symbolizes Symons' reflection of the situation and his love. This reflection causes Symons to realize that his love is no longer the same person, and that they have taken all their memories with them. This causes Symons to become restless and begin to ache, as he longs to remember his now lost

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