The moment when, after many years
of hard work and a long voyage
you stand in the centre of your room,
house, half-acre, square mile, island, country,
knowing at last how you got there,
and say, I own this,
is the same moment when the trees unloose
their soft arms from around you,
the birds take back their language,
the cliffs fissure and collapse,
the air moves back from you like a wave
and you can't breathe.
No, they whisper. You own nothing.
You were a visitor, time after time
climbing the hill, planting the flag, proclaiming.
We never belonged to you.
You never found us.
It was always the other way round.
of hard work and a long voyage
you stand in the centre of your room,
house, half-acre, square mile, island, country,
knowing at last how you got there,
and say, I own this,
is the same moment when the trees unloose
their soft arms from around you,
the birds take back their language,
the cliffs fissure and collapse,
the air moves back from you like a wave
and you can't breathe.
No, they whisper. You own nothing.
You were a visitor, time after time
climbing the hill, planting the flag, proclaiming.
We never belonged to you.
You never found us.
It was always the other way round.
Analysis and personal opinions:
The first stanza starts off referring the the strive humans have for constant improvement and the love for adventure. The poet talks about humans conquering every piece of land there is and claiming ownership over what we have gained, materialistic or not. This stanza gives off good imagery as we can actually imagine ourselves in a few years, standing in "the centre of [our] room" and finally being able to say that "Yes, i own this". The fourth line of this stanza gives us an image of something getting bigger and bigger, "a house, half acre, square mile, island, country". I have a feeling that this also bring a connection to how greedy people seem to get once they acquire something. They just want something new and better each time, there is no "real" sense of satisfaction from what we "own".
The second stanza starts off with a metaphoric symbol of mother earth wrapping her arms around you. We see the compassion of mother nature and we can image a mother holding her baby in her arms. The other half of the this stanza brings in a whole new tone to this poem. Rather than having the calm, motherly feeling, it brings shock to the reader and a hint of fear. There is also a simile comparing the air we breath and the waves that move away.
The third stanza has a great use of personification and it links us back to where the poet talks about "the birds [taking] back their language". Nature itself has found its voice through birds and it puts us in our place by breaking the illusion of us thinking that the world is ours to own. I believe that the poet is trying to convey that we humans don't live through the whole lifespan of what the Earth lives. We are just passing by, but the Earth will continue to go on and in a while, it will be like we never existed, that is if we don't destroy all the resources mother nature has to offer. The third line in this stanza talks about how we humans plant flags in a way of telling the world that we have claimed that part of the land. I believe that it seems like the poet is trying to convey what nature is trying to say. It's like Nature is saying that we never really own nature, we are only borrowing it to survive.
Theme:
I believe that the theme of this poem is to love nature and appreciate what it has to offer. We need to learn how to accommodate ourselves and keep nature alive at the same time. Rather than thinking that we own it, we can take it as borrowing what belongs to mother nature and keeping it just as neat and clean especially when time comes to give it up.
The first stanza starts off referring the the strive humans have for constant improvement and the love for adventure. The poet talks about humans conquering every piece of land there is and claiming ownership over what we have gained, materialistic or not. This stanza gives off good imagery as we can actually imagine ourselves in a few years, standing in "the centre of [our] room" and finally being able to say that "Yes, i own this". The fourth line of this stanza gives us an image of something getting bigger and bigger, "a house, half acre, square mile, island, country". I have a feeling that this also bring a connection to how greedy people seem to get once they acquire something. They just want something new and better each time, there is no "real" sense of satisfaction from what we "own".
The third stanza has a great use of personification and it links us back to where the poet talks about "the birds [taking] back their language". Nature itself has found its voice through birds and it puts us in our place by breaking the illusion of us thinking that the world is ours to own. I believe that the poet is trying to convey that we humans don't live through the whole lifespan of what the Earth lives. We are just passing by, but the Earth will continue to go on and in a while, it will be like we never existed, that is if we don't destroy all the resources mother nature has to offer. The third line in this stanza talks about how we humans plant flags in a way of telling the world that we have claimed that part of the land. I believe that it seems like the poet is trying to convey what nature is trying to say. It's like Nature is saying that we never really own nature, we are only borrowing it to survive.
Theme:
I believe that the theme of this poem is to love nature and appreciate what it has to offer. We need to learn how to accommodate ourselves and keep nature alive at the same time. Rather than thinking that we own it, we can take it as borrowing what belongs to mother nature and keeping it just as neat and clean especially when time comes to give it up.
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