Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "Late Wisdom," Paul Verlaine juxtaposes a serene external landscape with an internal world tinged by sorrow and regret. The tension between these two realms creates a poignant atmosphere where the beauty of life is acknowledged, but the irrevocable passage of time casts a shadow over it.

The poem opens with a tranquil scene, one where "the sky expands / So blue, so calm," and a tall tree "rocks its palm." The sky and the tree symbolize nature's constancy and serenity, indifferent to human struggles. The use of the phrase "so calm" seems almost to taunt the internal turbulence of the speaker, contrasting sharply with the emotional state revealed in the poem's closing lines.

The imagery of a bell "in the sky" chimes "sweet and faint," and a bird that "sings its low plaint" adds layers of sensory richness to the setting. The bell and bird could be seen as sonic representations of the passage of time-faint reminders of what has been or might have been. The bird's plaintive song, in particular, resonates with the poem's underlying theme of melancholy.

This tranquil atmosphere takes on additional layers of meaning when the narrator makes an appeal to God, recognizing that "life glides on there / In tranquil wise." This is life as it is, "tranquil," perhaps even mundane, continuing in the vicinity of "the city" that lies somewhere beyond immediate perception. And yet, this simple, ordinary life is tinged with a sense of sorrow for the speaker who stands "here full of tears / That flow and flow."

The question posed in the last lines, "What have you done with the lost years / Of long ago," reveals the crux of the speaker's anguish. The natural world, with its gentle sights and sounds, serves as a backdrop to this personal reckoning. The regret articulated here is keenly felt, almost as if the serenity of the world around the speaker serves to accentuate their internal disquiet. This questioning also universalizes the speaker's experience, as many have looked back on their lives to contemplate what might have been done differently.

In "Late Wisdom," Verlaine masterfully blends the peacefulness of nature with the emotional intricacies of regret and loss, presenting a landscape that is physically serene but emotionally charged. The poem is a stark reminder of the discord between external beauty and internal sorrow, between the ongoing, indifferent march of time and the deeply personal sense of loss that can accompany it. Verlaine's artistry lies in encapsulating these complex, often contradictory, feelings within the span of a brief poem, leaving the reader with a poignant sense of the fleetingness of time and the inescapable weight of regret.

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