As Far from Pity, as Complaint
poem 496
As Far from Pity, as Complaint - meaning Summary
Emotional Distance and Perception
The poem presents a speaker who feels emotionally removed and numb, set apart from pity, complaint, and revelation. Similes liken the speaker to stone, bone, and sepulchral stillness, emphasizing an internal coldness or professional detachment. This inward distance is contrasted with vivid, external phenomena—children’s spontaneous wonder, rainbow and sunset colors, and butterflies’ sudden blaze—that continue to reveal joy and color around the speaker. The poem thus maps a gap between inner deadness and the world’s ongoing capacity for revelation, suggesting both loss of feeling and an acute awareness of what is missed.
Read Complete AnalysesAs far from pity, as complaint As cool to speech as stone As numb to Revelation As if my Trade were Bone As far from time as History As near yourself Today As Children, to the Rainbow’s scarf Or Sunset’s Yellow play To eyelids in the Sepulchre How dumb the Dancer lies While Color’s Revelations break And blaze the Butterflies!
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