Title

The poem's title is important, as it alerts readers to its subject. A fable is a legendary story of supernatural or marvelous happenings, a tale with connotations of the mythic, the allegorical, and the fabulous. It can also be a story that is not true but that is nevertheless instructive of the truth through its underlying meaning. The title, then, leads readers to expect that the content of the poem will be not of this world yet perhaps contain within it a truth that is applicable to human life and experience.

Lines 1-7

The opening lines of the poem take us to a primordial age, to the very beginnings of time when there is nothing but the most basic elements of fire, air, and water. It is the period when the world, and even water itself, is still in its youth. The grounding element of earth is...