"She says, "I am content when wakened birds,
Before they fly, test the reality
Of misty fields, by their sweet questionings;
But when the birds are gone, and their warm fields
Return no more, where, then, is paradise?"
The woman in this poem is happy right where she is. She's wearing her robe and having a lazy Sunday while contemplating life and death. Sounds like my Sunday mornings!! Seriously though, she seems to be perfectly pleased with her surroundings and she also seems to feel that she is already in paradise.
Steven's paints a vibrant picture of the "here and now" of this woman. The opening stanza creates the idyllic setting of this woman's life. She is in her robe, drinking coffee, and eating oranges while gazing at the "green freedom of a cockatoo". The darker side of this woman's life is that she fully knows she is going to die.
"She says, "But in contentment I still feel
The need of some imperishable bliss."
Death is the mother of beauty; hence from her,
Alone, shall come fulfillment to our dreams
And our desires. Although she strews the leaves
Of sure obliteration on our paths,
The path sick sorrow took, the many paths......"
I think the woman wants her current life and surroundings to be her paradise AFTER she dies. She questions the Christian view of paradise. I think this poem speaks on the pleasure of being content with ones' life and being confident enough to question religion. I am a Christian woman, but I continuously question certain aspects of faith. I find the answers on my own. I think the woman in the poem is questioning these things to ultimately come to an acceptance of death. Death is inevitable and how a person deals with it is part of the journey of life.
I think it’s good if you can look at the bright side of death when ultimately it isn’t a joyous time. The fact that she is enjoying her time while she can is what most people who are going through this do. It is pretty common as well to question faith I as well have many questions but in the end many of them can’t be answered and it all comes down to just believing and having faith in something. Since death is unavoidable being able to come to terms with it is often difficult becomes there are many unknowns. It seems that she has taken in the simple things and life and is finally starting to take notice.
ReplyDeleteSunday's are a day of rest and relaxation. However, I somehow always find myself filling my time with all the chores, hw, errands, etc that I did not do over the course of the week. Sunday's are also thinking days for me. I find myself thinking about the week ahead of me and often times life in general. I think thats exactly what this woman was doing was thinking about her life and questioning the traditional role of Sunday's and faith. She seems to be happy with her life but wondering what will become of it further down the road.
ReplyDeleteThe thing I find most interesting about this poem is how similar it is to the way many people view life/religion/faith today. When this poem was written, the woman in it would probably be the exception to the norm. Whereas today, I think she would be the norm. I feel like today’s society/media tells us to be like this woman in the poem—all that matters is you are happy with yourself and the life you’re living; you don’t need “religion”. As a Christian, this breaks my heart. I feel sorry for this woman and wish there was something I could do to help her. No, she doesn’t need “religion” and list of rules. She needs a very real faith and to experience the love and grace that goes with it.
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