Sonnet Silence meaning?

[ThaneWulfgharn]

I've followed this mod since in its earliest stages of development. It's title Solid and Shade, derived from Edgar Allan Poe's Sonnet Silence which you posted on the Necronomicon. I have read and re-read the poem many times. Yet I can not still understand clearly its meaning:

"THERE are some qualities — some incorporate things,
That have a double life, which thus is made
A type of that twin entity which springs
From matter and light, evinced in solid and shade."
As I understand it, Poe here refers to the fact that the physical body is a manifestation of the more subtle "spiritual", "light" self of being, which is Matter in its pure form. Yet he states that there is a "double life", he makes a distinciton between the physical and the spiritual natures of the being.

But the following part is completely mysterious to me:
"There is a two-fold Silence — sea and shore —
Body and soul. One dwells in lonely places,
Newly with grass o’ergrown; some solemn graces,
Some human memories and tearful lore,
Render him terrorless: his name’s “No More.”
He is the corporate Silence: dread him not!
No power hath he of evil in himself;
But should some urgent fate (untimely lot!)
Bring thee to meet his shadow (nameless elf,
That haunteth the lone regions where hath trod
No foot of man,) commend thyself to God!"

What I do not understand:
-One refers to a person or "one of the two"(i.e body and soul) ?
-Who is "him". What does " his name’s “No More.” " mean?
-To what does Poe refer as Silence? (two-fold Silence and corporate Silence)?

I mean... what does the whole part from "There is a two-fold Silence" to "commend thyself to God!" mean? I understand english very well (even if it is not my native language) yet I cannot grasp the ful meaning of this poem.

 

[N0ught]

He compares the body and soul to the sea and shore - separate, yet inseparable entities. Poe goes on to describe how the soul lives in solitude; how the "dark side" lives, by necessity, in silence. He even calls it "No More" which at once evokes that which is silent and that which has passed - that which we cast out of ourselves. He then remarks on the danger of confronting the dark half directly, as an entity - and essentially that we can only fight the dark half indirectly, specifically because we have turned it into "corporate silence" - a corporeal entity composed of every doubt and fear in our heart.

I believe it is a warning to the faint of heart, who fail to seek spiritual alchemy. Alchemy is about turning that which we find unpleasant in ourselves - in our souls - into something beneficial. Lead into gold, of course. Everyone has demons - the true alchemist puts them to work for himself.

His warning is to the man who would cast their demons out - thus personifying them, and making them stronger - and thus folly, for the soul cannot be separated from the body, any more than the shore can be separated from the sea. To cast your demon to the shore is to destroy your peace of mind, therefore.

Better to make friends? I think so... Nepenthe agrees.

 

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*Jaw breaks through desk on way to floor*

 

[scrdest]

My personal take:

First four lines pretty much set the stage; there are some 'things' of dual nature, spiritual and material - not specifically a human body being flesh and spirit, but it's one way to read it - or perhaps, an example of such things. Dual life, and twin - those are at least to some degree discrete but joined together.

"There is a two-fold Silence — sea and shore —
Body and soul. (...)"

This refers to the titular Silence - it's a thing of such dual nature. Sea and shore is an analogy for its dual but inseparable kind of nature.

(...) One dwells in lonely places,"

Thus Poe begins to talk about one of the two natures of Silence - corporeal, as evidenced later.

"Newly with grass o’ergrown; some solemn graces,
Some human memories and tearful lore,
Render him terrorless: his name’s “No More.”
He is the corporate Silence: dread him not!
No power hath he of evil in himself;"

What's established here is that the material, corporeal Silence - "No More", is harmless on its own.

The name, combined by the memories and tearful lore making it terrorless imply that what it is is rather straightforward - loss, death, bodily destruction, or otherwise material cessation, especially if you think what kinds of lonely places are freshly overgrown with grass - but stories and memories of that which was but is no more persist; kind of a 'a man is not dead while his name is repeated' sentiment, it seems to me.

"But should some urgent fate (untimely lot!)
Bring thee to meet his shadow (nameless elf,
That haunteth the lone regions where hath trod
No foot of man,) commend thyself to God!"

Now this is talking about the other silence - the shadow (or, y'know, shade) to the solid of the former, the spiritual Silence. It has no name, since it dwells beyond the reach of normal humans, in the realm of the incorporeal.

And it's some scary **** - thus, commend thyself to God - as, by analogy, where something being lost bodily is destroyed, something lost in spirit is forgotten - that doesn't seem like the most obvious pick, but it is consistent with the earlier part - that being gone is not a bad fate if you are remembered ("No power hath he of evil in himself" - in himself, not just "No power hath he of evil"), but if you're dead and forgotten... well, then you truly are No More.