The Gardener 15: I Get What I Do Not Seek
The Gardener 15: I Get What I Do Not Seek - meaning Summary
Desire's Elusive, Surprising Returns
The poem portrays a speaker swept by yearning who pursues an unattainable vision only to find unexpected things instead. Using the musk-deer metaphor and night-breeze setting, it emphasizes restless wandering, the conjuring power of desire, and the irony that effort yields different results than intended. The repeated line frame—"I seek what I cannot get, I get what I do not seek"—encapsulates the poem’s focus on longing’s paradoxical, involuntary outcomes.
Read Complete AnalysesI run as a musk-deer runs in the shadow of the forest mad with his own perfume. The night is the night of mid-May, the breeze is the breeze of the south. I lose my way and I wander, I seek what I cannot get, I get what I do not seek. From my heart comes out and dances the image of my own desire. The gleaming vision flits on. I try to clasp it firmly, it eludes me and leads me astray. I seek what I cannot get, I get what I do not seek.
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