Obsessive Isabella

On my first reading of “Isabella, or, The Pot of Basil”, I found the story to be the regular Romantic-style poem: full of good, evil, strong symbolism, extreme emotions, life and death, ever-sacred nature, and the ever-powerful Love. “Isabella” is a history of the love between Isabella and Lorenzo, and how their love escalades to become a supernatural force in the lovers lives. I interpreted the story of Isabella and Lorenzo’s love to be a parable of how a good obsession slowly became corrupt and thus a bad thing to the lovers. For example, in the beginning of the poem its evident Isabella and Lorenzo strongly love each other. Lines like

“but her full shape would all his seeing fill;

And his continual voice was pleasanter

  To her, than noise of trees or hidden rill;”

In section 2 illustrates that the two lovers thought often of each other. Isabella in particular loves Lorenzo so much that it begins to become a bad thing. Throughout the rest of the poem the two become so strongly attached that lack of seeing each other leads to sickness. Isabella becomes ill without Lorenzo :

“until sweet isabella’s untouched cheek

Fell sick within the rose’s just domain,

Fell thin as a young mother’s…(seeking to cool infants pain)”

But on Lorenzo’s return:

“Love! Thou art leading me from wintry cold,

Lady! Thou leadest me to summer clime,”

…  and the two fall into greater love and Isabella is all better again. However, Love has just gained a negative side for Isabella. Their obsession with the other even turns the attention of Isabella’s older brothers and they kill Lorenzo out of cruelty for their sister. Being the only living lover, Isabella sorrowfully awaits the return of Lorenzo, and over time Isabella “by gradual decay from beauty fell” and becomes pale and sickly. Isabella’s discovery of Lorenzo’s corpse cues the final turn of Love from good to bad; instead of mourning and returning to her life to recover, Isabella returns with her lover’s head in a pot of basil, which she obsesses over day and night and waters with her tears. When even that is taken from her, Isabella’s love obsession finally destroys her: she withers away, to “die a death too lone and incomplete, now they have ta’en away her basil sweet”. The last appearance of Isabella in the poem finds her “asking for her lost basil amorously”. At this point Isabella is insane for want of love and so dies.

            In this way I see the poem “Isabella” as a parable of how a good obsession slowly turned and became a bad thing. Check out the song “Isabella” by Natake. The lyrics to the song are the last two sections of the poem set to haunting music that very well illustrates the emotions of Isabella after her basil pot is taken from her. The video exemplifies a different perspective and feel of the tragedy of Isabella and Lorenzo.

O Melancholy, turn thine eyes away!
O Music, Music, breathe despondingly!
O Echo, Echo, on some other day,
From isles Lethean, sigh to us - O sigh!
Spirits of grief, sing not your «Well-a-way!»
For Isabel, sweet Isabel, will die;
Will die a death too lone and incomplete,
Now they have taen away her Basil sweet.


And so she pined, and so she died forlorn,
Imploring for her Basil to the last.
No heart was there in Florence but did mourn
In pity of her love, so overcast.
And a sad ditty of this story born
From mouth to mouth through all the country passd:
Still is the burthen sung - O cruelty,
To steal my Basil-pot away from me!