Poem Analysis: The Layers By Stanley Ku Whoever

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If everyone in the world had the same personality, life would be boring. What makes everyone different from each other are the experiences that one has been to exposed to in their lifetime. Each unique experience helps mold one into the person that they have become today. In the poem, The Layers by Stanley Kunitz, the poet brings forth the point that people change due to their experiences. In an one stanza, 44 lined free verse poem, Kunitz explores his point by exploring four main themes. Through the themes of transformation, time, death, and isolation, Kunitz makes the point that people are constantly growing and changing throughout their lifetime.
The first theme Kunitz explores is transformation. Kunitz begins his poem on how he has changed as a person from his past. In the opening lines of the …show more content…

He describes his isolation as, “When the moon was covered / and I roamed through wreckage” (lines 34-35). The moon as a metaphor for his emotional standpoint. The moon was covered, not giving any light which means that he was feeling depressed. Moreover, light is a symbol of guidance, and there was no guidance for him. He had to continue on with his change at an all-time low. However, he did not stay in a low emotional point for long, he had heard, ‘a nimbus - clouded voice / directed me: / ‘live in the layers, / not on the litter “ (lines 35-38). The voice that was heard from the clouds, is God because God is watching from above. God was the one who had helped Kunitz come out from his emotional low by giving him advice. His advice to Kunitz declared that he needs to ‘live in the layers’, live and focus on the important aspects of life and ‘not the litter’. Litter is debris that covers the surface, superficial and toxic objects in life. God is telling him that he needs to ignore the litter in his life because it is the only thing holding him back from moving on and

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