Could you teach me the latter context of this poem?
Slowly, silent now the moon
Walks the night in her silver shoon;
This way, and that, she peers, and sees
Silver fruits upon silver trees;
One by one the casements catch
Her beams beneath the silver thatch;
Couched in his kennel, like a log,
With paws of silver sleeps the dog;
From their shadowy coat the white breasts peep
Of doves in a silver-feathered sleep;

This is a part from a poem "Silver" for children. I can't understand the context
"Couched in his kennel, like a log,
With paws of silver sleeps the dog;
From their shadowy coat the white breasts peep
Of doves in a silver-feathered sleep; "

Could you teach me?

Question

Could you teach me the latter context of this poem?
Slowly, silent now the moon
Walks the night in her silver shoon;
This way, and that, she peers, and sees
Silver fruits upon silver trees;
One by one the casements catch
Her beams beneath the silver thatch;
Couched in his kennel, like a log,
With paws of silver sleeps the dog;
From their shadowy coat the white breasts peep
Of doves in a silver-feathered sleep;

This is a part from a poem "Silver" for children. I can't understand the context 
"Couched in his kennel, like a log,
With paws of silver sleeps the dog;
From their shadowy coat the white breasts peep
Of doves in a silver-feathered sleep; "

Could you teach me?

Answer

There are two unrelated thoughts here. If it weren't a poem, they could have been written as separate sentences, and the words could have been written in a more natural order.

1) The dog sleeps like a log, with paws of silver, couched in his kennel.
Simplifying to show the skeleton of the sentence:
The dog sleeps, lying down, in his kennel.

2) The white breasts of doves--in silver-feathered sleep--peep from their shadowy coat.
The skeleton is:
The white breasts of doves peep from their shadowy coat.

The moon is imagined to be looking down. Moonlight is interesting: it is bright enough to see things fairly clearly, but not bright enough to show colors. Therefore, moonlight makes everything look black-and-white. Poetically, the bright parts of a moonlight scene are often described as "silvery." The dog is perhaps has a dark coat with white paws, so it has "silvery paws."

I don't know what kind of doves these are, but apparently there is a contrast between their white breasts and their other dark feathers. Their white breasts are partly uncovered by their folded wings, and "peep out."

The constraints of rhyme and meter sometimes result in poets make unusual word choices, and to "bend" word order and grammar in unusual ways. It requires a lot of skill to write perfectly natural-sounding English that also has rhythm and rhyme.

Answer

Thank you for your comment. Really? Poems are a bit difficult even if for children, but I like them.

Answer

Yuuichi, I really recommend that you don't work on poems.  This is a C2 level exercise.  Some of the grammar is non-standard, the meaning is complex, the text is  capable of differing interpretations, and some of the vocabulary is exceptionally unusual.

Answer

Thank you for your comment. Can I ask some questions? What is the subject of "Couched in his kennel"? Why is "sleeps" used instead of "sleeping"? Is "peep" a verb? I think I can understand it if it is "From their shadowy coat the white breasts of doves peep". This phrase "the white breasts peep of doves" bother me.

Answer

Think of how the moon gives a different kind of light to everything. Everything is still-not moving, and the light is shiny, silver-colored and white. Not yellow or glowing like sunlight. Imagine a dog in his house, not moving, and the moonlight only lights up the top of his paws. You can't really see that it is a dog because it is not moving.

It is the same with the doves. They are not moving either, and the moonlight only shines on their breasts. I hope this helps.

Answers · 8

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