Earthy Pleasure vs Transcendence

The “dialogue” of the poem is a two-sided discourse on the purpose of being. The “soul” argues that the speaker should be aspiring towards spiritual enlightenment: “Fix every wandering thought upon / That quarter where all thought is done” (Lines 6-7). The “quarter” likely refers to heaven, or to a state of being in which one can ascend to the afterlife. The soul’s choice of the word “wandering” suggests a derision or dismissal of these earthly thoughts, implying them to be a misdirection of the speaker’s energy and intention. The self, meanwhile, uses an heirloom sword — a tactile object which symbolises both the artistic creation of its construction and the mortality of its intention — to illustrate the value of earthly existence.

In the second canto, the self reflects on the “malice” of society and the turmoil of growing up. And yet, the...