Two Quatrains by Edwin Arlington Robinson
The first quatrain sees vast ages of conflict compressed into a single moment of vision, while ordinary tangible realities are transformed into divine shadows within Thought. The second contrasts humanity’s cries to live and dreams of death with the claim that true life begins only when one has cast off merely human breath, and true death only when one has left the path that leads toward it.
By Edwin Arlington Robinson · First published 1916 · Genre: Philosophical Poetry, Lyric Poetry, Metaphysical Poetry · 79 words
First lines
AS eons of incalculable strife
Are in the vision of one moment caught, / So are the common, concrete things of life
Divinely shadowed on the walls of Thought.
II
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Two Quatrains is listed on Textopian as a poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson, dated 1916 CE.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Date: 1916 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Philosophical Poetry, Lyric Poetry, Metaphysical Poetry, Symbolist Poetry, Spiritual Poetry
- Length: 79 words
- Structure: 1 section, 7 paragraphs
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Genres
- Philosophical Poetry — The two quatrains meditate on perception, consciousness, life, death, and the paradoxes of human existence.
- Lyric Poetry — The work is a brief, concentrated poetic expression of reflective thought rather than a narrative or dramatic account.
- Metaphysical Poetry — Its paradoxical statements about living, dying, eternity, and thought use abstract reasoning and spiritual speculation characteristic of metaphysical verse.
- Symbolist Poetry — Images such as 'the walls of Thought,' 'the ghost of human breath,' and 'the road that runs to death' function symbolically rather than literally.
Tags
poetry · American literature · lyric poetry · quatrains · formal verse · rhyme · meter · melancholy · introspection · mortality · isolation · disillusionment