”A bracelet of bright haire about the bone” The line is situated in the middle of the first stanza where the persona is talking about his grave and it’s digging up. The line is striking in a sense and I believe that is due to the contrast it involves. The whole poem is knitted around the concept of death and in this line we see the word ”bone” which can be instantly associated with a dead body. On the other hand, there is also a bracelet of bright haire which adds the line a positivity that cannot be ignored. It is almost like finding a source of sunlight in a very dark place.
The dictionary meaning of the bright is ”splendid, clear-sounding, divine” so it is natural for the reader to realize the contrast between the two words in the line. Another important part is that the bright hair belongs to ”she” and the bone it is wrapped around belongs to ”he”. The poet uses ”Mary Magdalen” as the female figure. There is no apparent reason why this is the case in the poem. I believe the poet chooses her to emphasize the bright hair of the women because Mary Magdalen was believed to have light colored hair. If we look at what comes right after this line in the first stanza ”this device might be some way to make their souls, at the last busie day” it is easy to grasp this bracelet of haire is supposed to bring lovers together in Judgement Day.
So, it is not only signifies the positivity it brings to the grave or maybe to the whole poem but it is also a ”device” that makes the poem unfold. Because right after this point they turn into reliques, and a miracle in a kingdom from pieces of bones. So with all this it can be deduced that ”she” is the stronghold that makes the poem what it is even though it does not appear so in the first look. To conclude, the poet ends the poem by again emphasizing her utmost significance. Everything now that the persona said can be cast aside, all language, all measure.
She is a miracle herself. It is not the adoration of women and men or what people think of these two lovers beneath the ground, it is her and her existence that wrought a miracle.
