Poem #1 Close Reading

            The poem questions overtly conflicting vantage points regarding the perceived duration of human existence.  The speaker criticizes the idea that time is only of importance relative to the “figures on a dial” (ln 9).  The poem is an appeal to live through all aspects of humanity; as the final line suggests, through mental, spiritual, and physical action an individual may forego the passivity of merely existing.  The poem equally offers a not so subtle rebuke of those that are cowards, small in soul, and live as do current nations of mankind.  This implies a level of elitism to the appeal, as the speaker discounts the possibility of entire nations of peoples living purposefully.  This seemingly shallow polemic has further depth when considering the irony inherent within the form.  While the poem advocates an intentionally imprecise and non-standardized perception of time, the poem is almost wholly written in pentameter.  With only one digression from this in line 6, which emphasizes the length of the thousand days, the form of poem seems to conflict with the transcendental notion of time that poem advocates.  This apparent tension may be overcome by attributing the strictness of the form to a desire to sound canonical.  In echoing the conservatism of major poetical works, the poem ironically bases its argument of spiritual perception on the strictness of earlier poetical forms.  Equally, the very presence of this tension brings attention to the essence of the argument and instigates a deeper analysis.