The Symbolic Nature of Bridges in Literature

Coleridge called it Symbol, Blake called it Imagination. The purpose of symbolism and the closely related device of allegory engage the reader in deciphering meaning. The quote below, by French anthropologist and historian, Jean-Pierre Vernant sums up the symbolic value of the bridge in fiction writing.

To cross a bridge, a river or a border is to leave behind the familiar, personal and
comfortable and enter the unknown, a different and strange world where, faced
with another reality, we may well find ourselves bereft of home and identity.

—Jean-Pierre Vernant

Perhaps, nowhere can this be more evident than in Wordsworth’s poem, Composed upon Westminster Bridge, 1803. Leaving behind the familiar landscapes of the past; the rural way of life, in favour of the industrialised city. It is perhaps quite fitting that Wordsworth captured not only the social change, but an entire movement to the unfamiliar reality. The creation of an entirely new social/cultural identity.

The bridge itself, can be actual or abstract. It can be used as a literary device to show the reader there will be some crossing; a journey --  between the earth and the sky or a sentimental link between people. The bridge is also used to depict life and death, usually from suicidal intentions, by jumping off, or hanging from. To digress momentarily from literature to film. It’s insightful to watch how film-makers utilise landscape features, bridges, or lack of a bridge, to convey the story premise or create an atmosphere in a particular scene. With the written word, describing a bridge and its role in the story, or placing it within the character’s life creates dramatic tension.

Belief and Love: Literature

Because it's February and Valentine's Day is creeping upon us, I want to quote part of a poem I studied in Literature classes. It's a love poem written as a script, but it makes for interesting dissecting, as there are also many references to madness. The poem is called Fragments of an Angel, and is over three thousand words in length with many sub-headings (like acts).

The part I've chosen to post here is called The Questions of Faithful Truth, which asks about the depth of feeling love. It happens a little after there is some conscious meeting between the two parts,(whether they are two souls or two fragments of the same mind/soul). They ask questions about how they fit together. On one level it seems to be about love for another person but, perhaps more significantly, there are hints that it is about belief in oneself.

The Questions of faithful truth

Angel.
If I can't see you.
Does it mean I am blinded by your love?
Guardian: It only means my love for you is blinded by such sorrow.

Angel.
If I don't hear what you're saying.
Does it mean I am deaf?
Guardian: You are deafened only by the pounding of my heart.

Angel.
If I can't sense your presence
Does it mean I am surrounded by naught?
Guardian: Bounded by air that is our fire: floating alone in the bubble of life.

Angel.
If I can't feel your desire
Does it mean I am numb?
Guardian: Sensual pressures trigger much warmth. We are never undone, or outwith desire.

Angel.
If I can't touch you
Does it mean we are apart?
Guardian: With my soul and my heart.

Angel.
If we were parted, how would we breathe?

Guardian:
We would learn to respond
Just as mere water
Departs from the ground,
Released from its earthly grave,
Soft rain will spill again;
Beat upon beat.

The play on words is sometimes illusive. For example, 'If I can't touch you, does it mean we are apart?' is answered with 'soul' and 'heart', which cannot be touched in a literal sense, but can be in the figurative - see what I mean, deep.

What I love about this part of the poem is the last verse, the despondent tone that is given to the emotion of love, or the need to be together as one - a theme that is repeated throughout the entire piece. The allegory of raindrops to the beating of the heart turns words and meaning on its head by suggesting that 'beat upon beat,' is not only life, but death as in 'soft rain will spill again;' like tears, or like blood, a rather subtle allusion to the soul 'released from its earthly grave.'

Lastly, I love the sheer magnitude of the pain at being parted, whether forever or temporary.