Language

Language is a commonly understood system of symbols that people use to communicate ideas. Although it is usually used to describe the exchange of words, the word "language" is also often used for nonverbal actions, such as "body language" or "the language of film." The fact that "Duration" is concerned with language becomes clear in the very first section, when Paz has elements of nature, wind and water, asking questions. The questions that they ask are ones that a human would be concerned with, indicating that nature not only has the human ability to communicate but that human interests come with communication.

The similarity between human language and interactions in nature is picked up again in the fourth section of the poem, where thunder speaks and the woods understand. In one sense, this is true, because the things of nature respond to one another: the animals in the...