This We Have Now
existence
free verse
austere
This We Have Now - meaning Summary
Presence Beyond Passing Feelings
The poem distinguishes lasting awareness from the changing emotions and mental judgments that usually dominate experience. Grief, joy, sadness, and elation are presented as temporary states that arise and pass away. By contrast, the speaker points to a stable present presence beneath them: an immediate reality that is not dependent on mood, imagination, or evaluation.
Read Complete AnalysesThis we have now is not imagination. This is not grief or joy. Not a judging state, or an elation, or sadness. Those come and go. This is the presence that doesn't.
Compiled by Coleman Barks.
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