The Monk

[Achebe]

hello, thanks for the reply. i appreciate you recognising flaws in the format. the 'aching wreath' is meant to express being bounded inside an internal suffering. the wreath being the metaphor for a cage. its probably very vague and suited to be misunderstood.

A metaphor has to make sense. 'Aching wreath' does not make literal sense. Getting lost in the symbolism and making too much out of what's written is a beginner's mistake. 

we all know of purgatory in its understanding. dante alludes to this very well. so it was meant to express something like that. and 'hemlock eye', hemlock is a poison so it was meant to allude to how his eye has become poison due to being caught up in the thoughts of a mistress.

Same issue as above. 

Good poetry is simple, but with many layers of meaning. Bad poetry is a confused jumble of words. I would suggest that you rewrite the poem after throwing out the tortured symbolism.