Fata Morgana

A blue-eyed phantom far before

Is laughing, leaping toward the sun:

Like lead I chase it evermore,

I pant and run.

It breaks the sunlight bound on bound:

Goes singing as it leaps along

To sheep-bells with a dreamy sound

A dreamy song.

I laugh, it is so brisk and gay;

It is so far before, I weep:

I hope I shall lie down some day,

Lie down and sleep.

By: Christina Rossetti

I believe the job of the writer is not to write what she wants you to see, but instead to write in a way that could be interpreted in numerous ways.  I believe that good writing can touch many people-it will affect them in the way they need to be.  I choose “Fata Morgana” by Christiana Rossetti because I believe it does just this.  The title of this poem “Fata Morgana” clearly supports this because a mirage is an illusion that is seen by only one person in a unique way.  “Fata Morgana” found me a few years ago when I was flipping through a poetry book.  I wrote it down in an old journal and tucked it away because I felt something within the lines that I myself wanted to muse over.  When I first read the poem I was captivated by the “blue-eyed phantom” and felt the hopelessness of the narrator as she watched the phantom leap away.

 

Speaking of the context and artistry of the poem, Rossetti uses a very beautiful, almost placid rhythm.  She uses an a-b-a-b rhyme scheme, which I think represents the very rhythmic passing of life and almost seems like someone leaping along.  There is an obvious shift after the narrator laughs and begins to weep in the last stanza.  This represents how quickly humans can become tired and change their perception on life. 

The reason I like this poem so much is the message that I take away from it.  I see the “blue-eyed phantom” as life itself.  Humans continually chase life-never stopping for a break.  We chase our goals, our aspirations.  We chase others and we chase ourselves.  We chase who we wish to be and what we wish our future to be.  The phantom is personified as happiness, but when the narrator cannot quite grasp it, she becomes downcast.  I find this to be a sincere struggle and one that we all face.  Running can make you tired.  We can only chase for so long before we become burned out and by something that is even the essence of felicity and goodness.  We become listless and need a break, but in life there is no break.  Our minds are continually racing with thoughts back and forth and back and forth.  We continually chase on and on until it is time for us to sleep for the final time.