Tom the Lunatic
Tom the Lunatic - meaning Summary
Perception Unsettled, Faith Affirmed
The poem presents an old madman, Tom, who questions a sudden change in his perception. He wonders why familiar faces and clear light now seem altered or dimmed, naming local figures as examples of what has become unfamiliar or shrouded. Despite this unsettling shift, Tom ultimately affirms a larger, steady vision: that all creatures stand unchanged in God’s sight, and he lives and dies by that faith.
Read Complete AnalysesSang old Tom the lunatic That sleeps under the canopy: 'What change has put my thoughts astray And eyes that had s-o keen a sight? What has turned to smoking wick Nature's pure unchanging light? 'Huddon and Duddon and Daniel O'Leary. Holy Joe, the beggar-man, Wenching, drinking, still remain Or sing a penance on the road; Something made these eyeballs weary That blinked and saw them in a shroud. 'Whatever stands in field or flood, Bird, beast, fish or man, Mare or stallion, cock or hen, Stands in God's unchanging eye In all the vigour of its blood; In that faith I live or die.'
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