Point of View

This poem is written in first-person point of view using the pronoun “I”: “I summon to the winding ancient stair” (Line 1). It’s told through two contrasting perspectives: the soul — or the inner, spiritual self — and the “self”, which refers to the physical, earthly body and its cognitive needs. There is an interpersonal conflict between the two, which is of course a projection of an internal conflict as the speaker considers their two opposing aspects. In the first canto, or first half, of the poem, the stanzas alternate between the soul and the self. In the second canto, the soul disappears and the remainder of the poem is told through the voice of the self. Although there is only ever one speaker, the poem presents various elements of the speaker in contrast with one another to present a complex and nuanced whole.

Language and Meaning