The Crown

The crown symbolizes royalty. This is a particular kind of symbolism known as synecdoche, which happens when a symbol refers to a part of something as though it were the entire thing. The crown is a part of the role of the queen, here used to encompass her entire self.

Tears

Tears are a symbol of sorrow. Here, they are compared to a spring. This creates imagery which suggests the constant and unchanging nature of the speaker's grief over her loss.

Cloth

Cloth represents the way one is perceived. Clothes were enormously important symbols of social status in early modern England. Only certain people could wear certain colors of fabrics. The poem is compared repeatedly to a cloth, because it claims to represent social importance in the same way that clothing could.

Laurels

The laurel tree represents poetic achievement. In ancient Greece, poets who won...