Print
Word
PDF|
This section contains 140 words (approx. 1 page at 400 words per page) |
|
Snail Summary
The poet speaks of a snail that moves along in a dream, knowing only the weather and a rose. The snail drinks the dewdrop's mystery.
Snail Analysis
This poem is all about scale and perception. The snail is aware only of the weather and the rose he is on. He knows the largest scale reality and the smallest scale reality, though everything in between—the domain of human action—is unknown to him, so that he moves as if in a dream. But though his state appears dreamlike to the human poet, he speaks of the snail as drinking the dewdrop's Mystery, with a capital M. Therefore, though the snail sees less than the poet in one sense, he also sees much more. He drinks of Mystery and transcends his size and scale.
(read more from the Snail Summary)
|
This section contains 140 words (approx. 1 page at 400 words per page) |
|
