Or else, to alter Plato's parable, / Into the yolk and white of the one shell.
-- Speaker (Lines 15-16)

Importance: In this moment, the image of an egg in two disparate parts serves two purposes: in the first, it serves as a metaphor for two entwined souls. One cannot exist without the other; when separated, they collapse. This shows how these two people, though in contrast with one another, come together to form a complete and perfect whole. It also carries the extended mythic allusion of Leda, the swan, and Helen of Troy, the latter of which was born from an egg rather than through a traditional birth.

Did Quattrocento finger fashion it / Hollow of cheek as though it drank the wind
-- Speaker (Lines 26-27)

Importance: “Quattrocento” refers to the Italian artistic movement of the 14th century, which included the painter Botticelli, the sculptor Donatello, and the early work of Leonardo da Vinci. This line is used to describe...