Being but Men
Being but Men - meaning Summary
Wonder Seeking Amid Fear
The poem contrasts adult caution with childlike wonder as speakers enter a wooded world. They move apprehensively, softening speech to avoid disturbing birds, yet imagine how children might climb noiselessly and gaze at the stars. From confusion and chaos the poem suggests a possibility of bliss found in simple wonder. The closing line returns to the adult stance, underlining a tension between fear and the longing for innocent awe.
Read Complete AnalysesBeing but men, we walked into the trees Afraid, letting our syllables be soft For fear of waking the rooks, For fear of coming Noiselessly into a world of wings and cries. If we were children we might climb, Catch the rooks sleeping, and break no twig, And, after the soft ascent, Thrust out our heads above the branches To wonder at the unfailing stars. Out of confusion, as the way is, And the wonder, that man knows, Out of the chaos would come bliss. That, then, is loveliness, we said, Children in wonder watching the stars, Is the aim and the end. Being but men, we walked into the trees.
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