The Sage by Edwin Arlington Robinson
The Sage returns calmly and knowingly to the perilous gates of Truth, toward fierce wisdom, the Orient, and the eternal Dawn. Having foreseen madness and meanness, he stands where Asia has unveiled Love’s inner shrine and departed wounded by the Unseen. At his touch, a treasure chest appears containing a gleam that is not gold. Its inscription declares that it holds the mintage of Eternity: anyone who takes one coin may take all, but only if they possess the key.
By Edwin Arlington Robinson · First published 1910 · Genre: Philosophical Poetry, Symbolist Poetry, Mystical Poetry · 157 words
First lines
FOREGUARDED and unfevered and serene, / Back to the perilous gates of Truth he went -
Back to fierce wisdom and the Orient, / To the Dawn that is, that shall be, and has been:
Previsioned of the madness and the mean,
He stood where Asia, crowned with ravishment, / The curtain of Love's inner shrine had rent, / And after had gone scarred by the Unseen.
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The Sage is listed on Textopian as a poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson, dated 1910 CE.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Date: 1910 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Philosophical Poetry, Symbolist Poetry, Mystical Poetry, Metaphysical Poetry, Lyric Poetry
- Length: 157 words
- Structure: 1 section, 8 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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Genres
- Philosophical Poetry — The poem centers on Truth, wisdom, eternity, spiritual knowledge, and the conditions required to attain transcendent understanding.
- Symbolist Poetry — Its meaning is conveyed through dense symbols, including the perilous gates of Truth, the Orient, a rent shrine-curtain, a treasure chest, coins, and a key.
- Mystical Poetry — The speaker depicts an encounter with the Unseen and presents eternal wisdom as a hidden treasure accessible only through an implied spiritual key.
- Metaphysical Poetry — Abstract subjects such as eternity, truth, love, vision, and knowledge are explored through an elaborate conceptual image of a chest containing the mintage of Eternity.
Tags
poetry · American literature · modernism · dramatic monologue · philosophical · introspection · isolation · wisdom · disillusionment · mortality · human nature · irony