Sunday Morning Man and the Natural World Quotes Page 1
(stanza.line)
| Quote #1 Complacencies of the peignoir, and late |
The poem opens with joyful images of nature – oranges, birds, and sun – but these things are also domesticated. They are images of nature so far as it is useful for humans. The oranges were probably bought in a store, the bird is a pet, and the sun is shining on a chair, rather than, say, a field. But, watch for the images of nature to become more and more wild throughout the poem. The small things around her lead the woman to think of other natural beauties she had seen.
| Quote #2 Shall she not find in comforts of the sun, |
The woman thinks that her experiences in nature are just as comforting, and bring just as much joy as "the thought of heaven." Her most intense emotions, like passion, grieving, and elation, occur when she is in some spectacular natural setting. She carries these emotions with her in memory. She decides to judge or "measure" her soul based on these feelings and not, for example, on whether she follows the rules of a particular religion.
| Quote #3 She makes the willow shiver in the sun |
"She" is death, from the metaphor comparing death to the "mother of beauty." The poet has just finished admitting that death causes a lot of good and powerful experiences to end. But, he says, there’s a consolation prize. Death, the mother, also "gives birth" to new life and beauty. For example, when the willow loses its leaves in the winter, it allows for the beautiful sight of the tree "shivering" in the sunlight. And, death allows new fruit to grow. As the force behind sex and reproduction, she makes boys put the fruit on the plate to lure young ladies who might be passing by. The cycles of nature all owe their existence to nature.
