Sir Walter Raleigh - The Lie - Jenna Pelosi

Sir Walter Raleigh – The Lie pg. 562-564
This poem was interesting to me because I find connections to religion and the different interpretation of it. Throughout the poem I am struggling to find what is “the lie”, and also if this “lie” is the same for everyone or does it change in meaning with each person it comes into play with? The poem starts off by saying, “Go, soul, the body’s guest…” (Raleigh, pg. 562). Part of lyric’s life meaning to me is the continuum of our soul after our bodies have died. Our life is passed on through our soul and takes the shape in others that are affected by our time on earth. Later in the poem, the speaker makes false connections of words. For example, “…Tell love it is but lust, tell time it is but motion, tell flesh it is but dust” (Raleigh, pg. 563). Is this where the lie begins? What is truly lust may seem to some as love at that time, not all love emotions die within a fleeting time. Our flesh is not dust, but then what is it? Throughout the poem the speaker is making connections with words that are normally at opposite ends of their meanings. This is a new form of language. So when the speaker says, “tell charity of its coldness, tell nature of its decay, and tell friendship of its unkindness” what is he trying to convey? What is this lie? I feel that this lie, as it unfolds will bring truth, and a sense of new wisdom along with it.