The Colossus

The Colossus is a symbol of separation. The Colossus was an enormous statue that stood with its legs on either side of the Strait of Rhodes, and which formed the entrance to what was the known world for the ancient Greeks. The Colossus thus represents the difference between the familiar and the new. It also serves as a reminder of the force – and because the Colossus was a statue of a man, the male force – that polices social expectation.

Flight

Flight symbolizes freedom from worldly expectation. In the second stanza, the speaker and Celia fly to Elysium, where they can explore sexuality in complete freedom.

Flowers

Flowers symbolize beauty and fertility. Flowers were a standard symbol of female beauty in this era. They also contain the reproductive organs of the plant, and here stand in for the parts of Celia's body.

Bees

Bees symbolize male...