The third idea (verses 11-19): the panel of sunset and farewell

08The third idea (verses 11-19): the panel of sunset and farewell

Simplified explanation

• "Oh, the sunset!" is a call of wonder and contemplation: in it lies a lesson for lovers whose love is intense.
• He likens sunset to the stripping-off of day and the striking-down of the sun: a scene resembling the parting of the soul and the meeting of death.
• He remembered his beloved while the day said its farewell, and his heart stood between awe and hope: fear of the ending and hope of a new meeting, like a new day.
• His thoughts appear before his eyes agreeing, in their sadness, with the image of the sunset.
• Tears flow from his eyelid, sparkling with the light of sunset; likewise the sun in the twilight — its golden radiance flows.
• The rays of setting pass between two clouds and scatter over the crowns of the black mountains, so the sun between the two clouds appears like a red tear.
• He closes by making this the last tear of the universe, mingled with his last tears mourning his wound.
• "As if I had seen my passing day": in the mirror of the evening he sees how his own end will be.