The Light of Darkness

"Being delights in being, and in time./The evening wraps me, steady as a flame." These powerful words mark the climactic assertion in Theodore Roethke's poem, "A Walk in Late Summer". The speaker in "A Walk in Late Summer" is the poet. Roethke's divulgence of his personal feelings and thoughts puts him in a category of poets called confessional poets. The audience for the speaker is the reader. The speaker describes his experience taking a walk in late summer, as the title literally suggests. The speaker shares his contemplative thoughts about the meanings of his life as he nears the end of it. The emphasized meaning of the poem lies in the pattern of spiritual imagery and appearance imagery. The paradoxical nature of the appearance imagery is proof of the poet's efforts to see past deceiving appearances to true meanings. As the speaker's dominant attitude progresses from reflective to contemplative to philosophical to enlightened he finds that a physical death does not mean a spiritual death. He learns that his spirit will live after he is physically dead, and the purpose of his existence will be complete.

The poet begins the introductory stanza with an image of illusion, a gull riding "on the ripples of a dream". The use of the word "gull" implies that the image is misleading and deceiving. Concurrently, dreams are not physically tangible and can not give rise to waves; therefore, the image is a deception. The speaker begins with a pattern of appearance imagery. Throughout the poem, the speaker explores the nature of deceptive and true appearances. The gull is personified as it "rides" the ripples, and the personification implies that the speaker is creating a relationship between nature and humans. The poet also creates the imagery of a gentle breeze indirectly through the existence of "ripples". As the poem intensifies, that gentle breeze becomes stronger and more dominant until the climactic stanza when the speaker tells of a tree thinned by the wind. The next image of "white upon white" is a synecdoche because the speaker uses the color of the gull to suggest the presence of the whole bird. This image implies that the gull is blending and becoming unified with its natural surroundings. The image of deceiving appearances continues as the gull becomes indiscernible. The image of the gull slowly settling on the stone implies a lack of energy and a dulling of perception and understanding in the speaker. The speaker continues with the image of "soft-back creatures" wandering across his lawn. The "soft-backed creatures" are a metaphor for meek people throughout the poem and parallel the speaker's own emotions. He identifies with the creatures because they are "alone" just as he is apart from others. The speaker's identification of "my lawn" implies that the walk on which he is embarking is also into his own thoughts and feelings. The contrast between the hard "stone" and the gentleness of the "soft-backed" animals suggests the vulnerability of the creatures and himself. The creatures wander without direction which implies the speaker has no specific destination. Then, the speaker commands, "Bring me the meek, for I would know their ways;" which alludes to Jesus's Beatitudes. Jesus promised "the meek" the entire earth. The "meek" refers to the soft-backed creatures. The command implies that the speaker wants to give the animals a direction to their wandering and wants to be with the keepers of the earth. The speaker also wants to have a destination to reach at the end of his walk. The speaker's assertion, "I am a connoisseur of midnight eyes" implies that he knows how to see true images even though they may be shrouded by darkness. The synecdoche "midnight eyes" focuses on the eyes of the animals because the speaker is concerned with appearances; thus, he continues the pattern of appearance imagery. The speaker exclaims and emphasizes through repetition, "The small! The small! I hear them singing clear/On the long banks, in the soft summer air." The "small" refers to the meek creatures. The animals are personified as they sing which implies the speaker's identification with them. He hears them singing "clear" which implies that he is attentive and in-tune with them. The image of "the soft summer air" implies that the speaker's life is heading toward a decline, but in that decline he preserves his inner peace. The speaker's attitudes are reflective and serene.

The speaker's reflective attitude leads him to question his soul and explore his spirit in the development stanza. The speaker poses the metaphysical question, "What is there for the soul to understand?" Then, he suggests an answer to his first question in the form of a speculative question, "The slack face of the dismal pure inane?" The overall form of answering a question with a question is paradoxical. These questions imply that the speaker is searching for spiritual truth within himself and begin a pattern of spiritual imagery. The extended metaphor of meek creatures is continued in the imagery of the "slack face" since slack denotes lacking in vigor or strength. The imagery of the "slack face" also continues the appearance imagery because a face is an external distinguishing feature. The weak and vigorless appearance of the meek creatures is described as gloomy, innocent, and void of meaning which implies that there is no meaning for the soul to understand. The speaker's questions are paradoxical in the sense that he probes for meaning in the soul, but his only suggestion has no meaning. The personifying image of the wind dying down implies that the speaker is also dying. He corroborates that implication by stating that his will dies with the wind. The death of the speaker's will implies that he is becoming like the slack face, vigorless and weak, because there is nothing for his soul to understand. The exclaimed ultimatum, "God's in that stone, or I am not a man!" implies that nature manifests the eternal, infinite Spirit. The speaker sees more than the physical shape of a stone; he sees God. This language continues the pattern of spiritual imagery. The speaker describes the metaphysical image of his body and soul flowing out of their vigorless and weak physical appearance before all the illusory images collapse. The speaker's appearance was weakened previously as his will died and he became like the slack face; therefore, it follows logically that the weakened appearance can no longer persist. It is implied that the speaker's body and soul are leaving behind their deceiving physical appearance. Thus, the language of illusory images and spiritual images continues. The image of the speaker dying piece by piece, "fervent in decay", is paradoxical because a loss of strength or health is not usually a zealous or animated process. The paradox suggests change after his body and soul transcended their appearances. After shedding their illusory appearance the speaker's energy is restored, and he is no longer weak or lacking vigor. The speaker's emphatic declaration, "My moments linger-that's eternity." is a paradox which implies that his short times of strength and happiness are without beginning or end and will continue to live forever. "Linger" denotes dwelling in contemplation. Both contemplation and fervor are the speaker's attitudes in the development.

In the intensification, the speaker's philosophical and joyful attitudes are even more profound than in the development. The speaker literally begins the intensification with the image of a rose that has bloomed unexpectedly and has destroyed an uncertain eye. He says, "A late rose ravages the casual eye". The "casual eye" extends the pattern of appearance imagery since the eye is an essential organ for perceiving appearances. The speaker sees the rose as, "A blaze of being on a central stem." The personification of the rose implies the powerful human-like affect the rose has on the speaker. The "blaze of being" implies that the rose illuminates to the speaker the true, central core of his being. The deceiving mask of appearance has been lifted and the speaker is looking into his core of being. The speaker stresses "central" again in the climax because he is exploring his spirit and his existence which are two principal components of his being. The speaker calls for change when he says, "It lies upon us to undo the lie/Of living merely in the realm of time." The pronoun "us" refers to the meek creatures and could incorporate the reader. The speaker's declaration implies that the rose also illuminates the illusion of simply living in the presence of time. Time takes on the role of a ruler, and the meek are the subjects existing solely in time's scope of influence. This suggests that the subjects of time's realm have no control over the direction of their lives, like the wandering creatures. The image of life moving toward an undoubtedly true purpose implies that the advent of death brings meaning and insight into life. The "certain end" of existence contrasts the "casual eye" because "certain" denotes definite and "casual" denotes uncertain, indefinite, and accidental. This contrast marks the difference between welcoming death and unexpected death. The speaker continues, "A thing all earthly lovers understand." The "thing" refers to the purpose in life. This implies that lovers of all possible kinds see and understand the true meaning of their existence. It is further implied that lovers can comprehend their existence because they are in love. The dove which symbolizes inner-peace approaches him in a complex and detailed manner, and it is the dove's manner that causes the speaker to remember that he is dying with the year. He explains, "That dove's elaborate way of coming near/Reminds me I am dying with the year." which implies that inner peace reminds him of his death. The dove "reminds" the speaker because his thoughts of death were put out of his head during his communion with the rose which revealed to him the essence of his existence. The speaker is joyful when he thinks of the inner peace he will feel in his death.

The climax begins with the image of a tree rising "on a central plain". In the introduction the speaker mentioned, "my lawn" which has augmented into a "central plain". It is implied that the speaker feels strongly his connection with his natural surroundings like the "central stem" and "central plain" and his own central existence-his spirit. The action of the tree rising parallels the transcendence of the speaker's body and soul which implies that the speaker is in harmony with nature. After seeing the tree, the speaker has a sudden change in thought as he begins to describe the imagery of the tree. The appearance pattern of imagery is furthered here. The tree is described as "no trick of change or chance of light" which implies that the tree is not deceiving in appearance. The speaker continues to describe the tree as "all out of shape from wind and rain" which implies that the tree is out of its physical state of existence and has become an ethereal form. The two descriptions of the tree are paradoxical. In addition, the image of the tree "thinned by the wind" obscuring the speaker's sight is paradoxical because something easily seen through can not usually prevent something from being seen or known. The paradox between "thinned" and "obscures my sight" suggests that the tree is not meant to be seen; it is just meant to be experienced. The imagery of the tree is again paradoxical because at first the tree is enlightening as it "arises" and comes into view. After being taken out of its form by the wind and rain, it prevents the speaker from knowing and seeing. The speaker continues with the imagery of the long day dying, walking the woods alone, and hearing two wood thrush "sing as one" which implies that his loneliness is in the past even though his time enjoying the sun is ending. It is implied that he enjoys the beauty of the moment; he is in-tune with the love of the two wood thrush united in singing and love. He's joyful in being alive and knowing that he can enjoy the moment. The speaker emphatically asserts the final paradox, "Being delights in being, and in time./The evening wraps me, steady as a flame." This imagery implies that the darkness of the evening is closing in and the glory and strength of his life are dwindling, but he is completely at peace with himself and accepting of the close of his life. The ending of his life is paradoxical because "steady" denotes uniform, stable, and free from change while a flame denotes passion and full of brilliant light. This paradox implies that even though the speaker peacefully accepts the progression of time, the advent of old age, and the deterioration of life, he maintains the passion and explosive brilliance that come when his soul transcends the illusory appearances and arrives at the meaning of his existence. The speaker's most intense attitudes are enlightened and enraptured.

"A Walk in Late Summer" conveys more than the literal experience of walking in nature during the close of summer. The multiple denotative definitions of "late" and "summer" give the title a figurative meaning. The language of the poem deals mostly with a walk into the speaker's spirit and the speaker's contemplation of the true meaning of his existence. The speaker proceeds in late summer: "the period of finest development, perfection, or beauty, previous to any decline." The decline is imminent, but through his contemplation he becomes enlightened and enraptured. In the introduction, the speaker reflectively and serenely invokes himself into his natural surroundings and becomes harmonized with nature. In those natural surroundings he reflects on illusory images versus images of truth. In the development, the speaker questions what there is for his soul to understand. After feeling the presence of God's spirit in nature, the speaker transcends the illusory world of appearances, and accepts his coming death. His attitudes have advanced from reflective and serene to contemplative and fervent. The poem intensifies when the speaker acknowledges that dying will bring him inner peace, and in that respect, he is joyous about dying. His attitudes become philosophical and joyful. The climax is riddled with paradoxes, but they tie together the entire experience of the poem. With attitudes of enlightenment and rapture, the speaker accepts the ending of the summer of his life because he has learned to transcend deceiving appearances in mind and body. He arrives at the meaning of his existence. The meaning of the speaker's existence can not be outwardly explained to the reader, but the reader can share in the intense happiness that stems from feeling the meaning of his existence. The meanings of the poem are significant to every individual member of humanity because we inevitably will face the late summer of our individual lives. Every individual has a different meaning to their existence. To feel the enlightenment and rapture like the speaker, one must purposefully seek the meaning of his existence and find what "certain end" awaits him.

Other sites: 'A Walk in Late Summer' by Roethke