Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes;
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea nymphs hourly ring his knell;
Ding-dong.
Hark! Now I hear them – Ding-dong bell.
What does the poem mean?
Sigh. Thanks for the help, I guess. Instead of help me, you're helping Nirvana. :( I already got the answer.
This is a very interesting poem where a father dies and how the sea nymphs are solemnly celebrating his death.
Celebrating? What is a death knell. Look up the word "knell". And where is the father's body and what is happening to it?
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/knell
The excerpt you provided is from William Shakespeare's play "The Tempest," spoken by the character Ariel. This passage is part of a song that Ariel sings to Ferdinand, who is grieving the apparent loss of his father, King Alonso.
The meaning of this poem is metaphorical and symbolic. It suggests that Ferdinand's father lies beneath the ocean, transformed into something extraordinary and precious. The lines "Full fathom five thy father lies; of his bones are coral made" indicate that Ferdinand's father's remains have become part of the ocean's coral reefs. The phrase "Those are pearls that were his eyes" suggests that even his father's eyes have transformed into something beautiful and valuable.
The following lines, "Nothing of him that doth fade, but doth suffer a sea change into something rich and strange," explain how his father's body, rather than decaying, has undergone a metamorphosis into something unique and extraordinary. The poem also mentions that sea nymphs ring his funeral bell.
Overall, this poem conveys the idea that death is not the end but rather a transformative process where the departed person becomes part of nature, in this case, the mesmerizing and mysterious realm of the sea.