Q. How does the poet make you feel about the man’s life?

The poet uses a variety of figures of speech and literary techniques to showcase the sense of
unfulfillment felt by the man, as he transitions through various stages in his life, which causes
readers like myself to reflect on our own lives, and the unintentional, deep rooted sense of
dissatisfaction we hold at every instance. Firstly, the poem establishes the distance between
the man, and his past life which conveys a sense of void that he had back in the times,
highlighting his discontent towards country-side living. Secondly, the poet elaborates on the
man’s separation from nature resulting in his deliberate attempts to solidify this distance in
the quest to make his life better. Lastly, the readers are made aware of the punctured reality
of the man as he carries his sense of unfulfillment even to his new life which conveys the
nature of mankind to never be content with their lives.

Firstly, the poem establishes the distance between the man, and his past life which conveys a
sense of void that he had back in the times, highlighting his discontent towards country-side
living. The usage of the nature imagery in the ironical phrase ‘the hills are always far away’
symbolically connotes to the narrator’s distance with his past life. This an irony since at this
point in the poem the man is residing in the country-side, and thereby the idea of ‘hills’ being
‘far away’ is paradoxical and highlights the detachment and distaste the man has towards his
past through the writer’s descriptions of this distance. Further, the metaphorical phrase ‘and
all the winds lie dead’ solidifies the previously presented distant tone as the poet effectively
employs a collation of elements of the natural world – ‘river’, and ‘winds’, and negative
diction – ‘dry’ and ‘dead’ that are symbolic of the demise of the poet’s dreams, and perhaps
personal life too. This reality establishes a sense of void in him towards his past life as he was
stripped off his aspirations and loved ones in that particular period in time which explains his
sense of void, and results in him drawing a wedge between nature (an aspect of his past), and
himself rising sympathy in the readers for the man’s life and circumstances.

Secondly, the poet elaborates on the man’s separation from nature resulting in his deliberate
attempts to push it away and solidify this distance in the quest to make his life better which
has made his new life meaningless. The restrictive phrase ‘welcomes either sun nor rain’
wherein the poet uses the word ‘welcomes’ to convey the man’s intentional avoidance of
nature as evident through the word ‘sun’ and ‘rain’ that not only sheds limelight on
separation he has created between himself and nature, but also suggests his withdrawal from
his past life. This conveys the man’s distaste for nature to readers as nature reminds him of
his earlier, sorrowful life which rises a sense of pity in their minds. The visual imagery
effectively employed by the poet in the phrase ‘his landscape has no depth or height’ is a
greater metaphor for the narrator’s new life. The idea of his life having ‘no depth or height’
showcases its absolute hollowness for the fact that the narrator has abandoned nature to blend
in this new place, which is not satisfying his sense of unfulfillment, however is further
amplifying his discontent from life by making it hollow and meaningless. Readers like me are
thereby forced to wonder if the man’s life will ever be satisfying enough for him to provide
him with a sense of ease, accomplishment, and satisfaction.

Lastly, the readers are made aware of the punctured reality of the man as he carries his sense
of unfulfillment even to his new life which conveys the nature of mankind to never be content
with their lives. The simile ‘The city like a passion burns’ which is followed by the impactful
phrase ‘He dreams of morning, walks, alone’ perplexes the readers to a great extent. The
simile of the city in the phrase ‘The city like a passion burns’ connotes the pleasures and
perfection of the man’s new life that is so passionate, the idea of burning suggests a very
lively and vibrant image of the city which causes readers to expect that he is finally fulfilled
with what he has at hand. However, the volta in the next line ‘He dreams of morning walks,
alone,’ forces readers to abandon the interpretation that the man will ever be content. The fact
that even after having a vibrant life in the present, the man longs for his past pleasures
wherein ‘morning walks’ symbolize the serenity that his life previously brought to him which
is missing in a city that passionately burns showcases the man’s want to have everything.
Furthermore, the continuity of the phrase being interrupted ‘He dreams of morning walks,
alone,’ with the excessive usage of enjambments in middle brings into picture the man’s
resentments from his beautiful life. All in all, this presents the bigger idea of humans having a
profound sense of dissatisfaction from their life, and that they are never content with what
they have at hand meaning they having a persistent void in their hearts.

Thereby, as much as this poem instils a sense of sympathy in the readers, it also frustrates
them due to the man’s discontent towards life. In conclusion, it also adds a tinge of
relatability and forces readers to reflect on their own approach to life.