Duality of the Self

The core message at the heart of the poem is the speaker’s sense of duality and disconnection within the self; a sensation of being two people, or two souls, which are pulled in different directions. This is directly established in the poem’s opening lines: “If I were young as once I was […] I wouldn't split my soul in two” (Lines 1, 3). This line is then echoed at the closing of the poem: “I watch with envious eyes and mind, / the single–souled” (Lines 37-38). There is a clear sense of loss and regret in the speaker’s reminiscence; however, they regard this rupture of the self as an active choice they made themselves, rather than something external that was inflicted upon them. This suggests that during their more idealistic youth, the speaker saw an advantage to this “splitting” of the soul — whether...