Confluents

Question 1

Analysis of the title

Answer 1

Confluents = mingling of 2 bodies of water

Metaphor for the spiritual merging that CR craves = ultimate unity with God

Question 2

Extended metaphor of the merging of water/symbiosis in nature

Answer 2

• ‘As the rivers seek the sea, much more deep than they’
• ‘As the delicate rose to the sweet suns strength…’
• ‘As morning dew exhales..’
• ‘dewdrops find a way’

Question 3

‘As rivers seek the sea/Much more deep than they/So my soul seeks thee…’

Answer 3

Personification of the river = desperate longing.
Comparative images of the diminutive ‘Rivers’ = small, insignificant & the expansive ‘sea’ = metaphor for the search for a deeper spiritual comfort than the shallow comforts earth provides.

• The phrase “my soul seeks” implies a deep, intrinsic desire that goes beyond mere physical or emotional needs. It suggests a yearning that originates from the very essence of one’s being. The sibilance of such illustrates the agonising search for this spiritual fulfilment.

Question 4

‘delicate rose/to the sweet suns strength…unveiled utterly’

Answer 4

• Fragility of love and weakness which is renewed by the sun - symbiotic relationship established (sibilance creates a soothing sound).
• Evokes vulnerability and weakness in exposing themselves. The “sun” may represent gods light and eternity and hence the rose “doth herself unclosed” for the might of god: willingness for god and seeking nature.