Ere Time transfigured me.
-- Speaker (Line 6)

Importance: This line closes the first stanza and becomes a continuous refrain throughout the poem. In this context, “Ere” is used to mean “before,” alluding to a lost period of the speaker’s life before they metamorphed into their current state of being. By using this idea as a repeating motif, the speaker effectively establishes the poem’s core theme. While transformation is often a positive theme in poetry, here it is presented as a process of loss and decay.

And crazy rascals rage their fill / At human tyranny
-- Speaker (Lines 9-10)

Importance: In this moment, the speaker takes a derisive look at the young radicals who have taken his place in the good fight of youth. The term “crazy” is derogatory, while the term “rascals” is lightly indulgent. It is clear the speaker sees their battles as small and ultimately meaningless in the grand spectrum of time. The insight suggests...