For A Poet

The silken cloth is the most significant object in the poem, mentioned in three of its eight lines. It provides a vivid sensation that grounds the poem’s metaphorical abstraction and adds further characterization to the speaker as someone who would choose silk, rather than prosaic cloth or disdainful burlap, in which to wrap their dreams. The choice of silk suggests the level of care the speaker has for their dreams, the tenderness with which they would wrap them and keep them hidden away. The preciousness of silk signifies the speaker is not likely to relinquish these dreams, and rather than abandon them, is enfolding them in a delicate keepsake. Silk also symbolizes intimacy, the lavish closeness of lovers, and the thoughtfulness of self-care, as Cullen repeats the sensuous image three times. This furthers the eroticism suggested by the moth by implying a further facet of the lovers’ relationship. The silken cloth also carries a further implication, coupling with the other facet of the moth, the decay, in its usage to cover the box of gold that contains the dreams. The silken cloth becomes a burial shroud, a final delicate layer meant to contain and conceal that which has died and been laid to rest underneath.