Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Frederick Louis MacNeice’s poem "Truisms" is a meditation on the inevitability of inherited beliefs and the cyclical nature of life’s experiences. The truisms, passed from father to son, are initially presented as static, lifeless objects, shaped "like a coffin" and symbolic of rigid, conventional wisdom handed down through generations. These truisms, left behind by the speaker as he ventures out into the world, remain dormant, reflecting the son’s early rejection or indifference to the inherited values and ideas.

The coffin-shaped box serves as a metaphor for the limitations imposed by these inherited beliefs, paralleling the death of the speaker’s father, who "skulked" inside his own fixed world of truisms. The son’s departure from home symbolizes his attempt to break free from these constraints, venturing into a life filled with love, war, "sordor, disappointment, defeat, betrayal." MacNeice presents the speaker’s life experiences as a series of disillusionments, highlighting the inevitable challenges and losses that shape one’s journey.

Despite the speaker’s attempts to distance himself from his father’s truisms, he eventually arrives at a place that feels strangely familiar—"a house / He could not remember seeing before." This house represents a return to his origins, symbolizing the inescapable pull of the past and the enduring presence of inherited beliefs, even after a life spent in opposition to them. The speaker’s intuitive understanding of "the way to behave" upon entering the house suggests that the values and ideas he sought to leave behind have remained with him, deeply embedded in his subconscious.

The poem’s climax occurs when the speaker "raised his hand and blessed his home," a gesture of acceptance and reconciliation. The truisms, once static and lifeless, "flew and perched on his shoulders," indicating that the speaker has come to terms with the beliefs passed down from his father. Rather than rejecting them outright, he now carries them with him, acknowledging their role in shaping his identity and worldview.

The final image of a "tall tree" sprouting from the father’s grave represents renewal and growth. While the truisms may have seemed confining and dead at first, they are ultimately a source of life and continuity, connecting the speaker to his father and to the larger cycle of existence. The tree symbolizes the enduring impact of familial and cultural inheritance, as well as the potential for these inherited values to evolve and take on new meaning over time.

"Truisms" reflects on the complex relationship between tradition and personal experience. MacNeice suggests that while one may seek to break free from inherited beliefs, they remain a fundamental part of one’s identity, shaping and influencing one's journey through life. The poem underscores the inevitability of returning to one’s roots and finding meaning in the values passed down from previous generations, even after a life of skepticism and disillusionment.

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