Language: Diction and Description

"Slim Cunning Hands" by Walter de la Mare

Walter de la Mare was an English poet born in to a well-to-do family. A winner of the Carnegie Medal, he is considered one of the chief exemplars of the romantic imagination.

Slim Cunning Hands 

Slim cunning hands at rest, and cozening eyes-
Under this stone one loved too wildly lies;
How false she was, no granite could declare;
Nor all earth's flowers, how fair.

In this poem by Walter de la Mare he is describing a women who has passed away. It is evident that the speaker of this poem remembers the physical appearance of this women. He describes her as having "slim cunning hands" and "cozening eyes." This also gives us insight into the type of person that the woman was. A deceitful and sly person. The words such as "granite" and "stone" also give finality and emphasize her death. They both are part of the makeup of a gravestone, thus dealing with death. In the second line of the poem the syntax of the sentence leads us to be able to interpret it in two ways. The first way we can interpret it is that he loved her in a crazy manner. Their love was wild, but other people loved her as well. The second way we can interpret it is that the word "lies" at the end of the sentence relate to the lies she told. We can draw this conclusion because it connects back to the fact that she was initially described as cunning. In the third line the speaker tells us that no granite could declare her falsities because it is too permanent. It would be paradoxical to have something so permanent declare something that was so fickle. Finally, in the last line, the word "fair" just like "lies" can be taken two ways. First we can interpret it as him looking at her physical beauty again… his final thoughts could have been about how her appearance was fair. Or, he could be saying that this is just the way that no granite can declare her fickleness.