A Slumber did my spirit seal

 1. “A slumber did my spirit seal”, says the poet. That is, a deep sleep ‘closed off’ his soul (or mind). How does the poet react to his loved one’s death? Does he feel deep sense of grief? Or does he feel a great peace? 

 In "A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal," the poet’s reaction to his loved one’s death is characterized by a profound sense of numbness and shock rather than an outburst of typical grief. Initially, he describes his spirit as being "sealed" by a slumber, suggesting that he was in a state of deep denial or a trance-like state where he was blind to the reality of mortality. This "slumber" acted as a protective layer that kept him away from "human fears." However, as the poem progresses, his reaction shifts toward a great, solemn peace. Instead of mourning her loss with traditional sorrow, he finds a philosophical consolation in the fact that she has become an immortal part of the universe. By imagining her rolled round in "earth’s diurnal course" along with "rocks, and stones, and trees," he accepts that while she is lost as a human being, she has achieved a permanent, peaceful existence within the eternal cycle of nature.

2. The passing of time will no longer affect her, says the poet. Which lines of the poem say this? 

 “She seemed a thing that could not feel 

 the touch of earthly years”.

3. How does the poet imagine her to be, after death? Does he think of her as a person living in a very happy state (a ‘heaven’)? Or does he see her now as a part of nature? In which lines of the poem do you find your answer? 

 The poet imagines her not as living in a happy “heaven” but as having become a part of nature itself. This is clear in the final lines: "Rolled round in earth’s diurnal course, With rocks, and stones, and trees." Here, she is merged with the earth, moving daily with the planet’s rotation, no longer an individual but united with non-living natural elements—rocks, stones, and trees. Thus, the poet envisions her after death as beyond human joy or sorrow, simply existing in the eternal cycle of nature.