Jessica Gerlemann

Poetry

John Thrower

October 10, 2011

Divine World of the Spirit vs. the Imperfect World of Our Everyday Lives

This poem, "Love Calls Us to the Things of the World," by Richard Wilbur is a dying example of two very controversial and yet conflicting ideas about our own world. There are two perspectives that must be defined. First, the love not of the things in the world such as greed or adultery but the love of the world the same way God loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten perfect son’s life to allow the correction of the wrongs that had been done by the first parents because of free will. Second, the recessive state that many who are undereducated turn to because they do not try to understand the real world or the lessons in it and how they can make us who we become and we grow from them. This poem is talking about two very different realities of our world. One in which is positive and one in which is narcissistic.

In the poem, what is signified from the very beginning is the fact that some mornings should just be left to the simplicity of the love of hanging laundry and the awakening of tired eyes to the response from the noise of it. In this sense, we can say that the world should at times just be left to the simplicity of the things in it such as love or friendship or even the love in doing our own duty or chores in our role in life. "The eyes open to a cry of pulleys, And Spirited from sleep, the astounded soul, Hangs for a moment bodiless and simple." (p79) However, on the narcissistic side some tortured minds result to nothing but the thoughts of suicide, homicide or even abuse and harass when they can no longer understand the things in the world or make sense of them. In other words, thinking of themselves at the time more than anyone else the world might forget them or they may feel like no one really cares to understand their dark, lonesome life of personal suffering. "From the punctual rape of every day." (p80)

In context, I personally believe that the author is trying to say that things should stay somewhat simple so we aren’t suffering all these transgressions and problems sometimes and that we should enjoy the sole innocence of life without hurting another person or bringing reproach upon ourself or nonetheless God who in reality sees all things no matter how much we are suffering. The positive side of things of the divine world of spirit, God therein rests. It is in the world that God is all around us and there is true evidence of it. "The morning air is all awash with angels." (p80) However, in contrast Satan and the devil like places devour those who are lost in their own emotions and those of others and what they feel at the time and why and when they cannot make sense of them. In reality there is no sense that can be made from people who dominate one another to injury except the fact that they are suffering and do not know how to deal with their problems in a healthy way properly at the time.