Earth

The poem makes use of two implied settings, Earth and Heaven. The existence of two settings mirrors the double structure of the poem with its two wings. The two settings are held in a duality, where Earth is inferior in every way. Life on Earth is full of suffering, both physical and emotional. It is literally smaller, constrained in the thinnest part of the wing, and can be tolerated only through imagining a movement towards Heaven.

Heaven

The other setting implied in the poem is Heaven. Although the speaker never reaches that far, it is by striving towards Heaven that he manages to survive the hardships he experiences on Earth. He longs to "rise," both metaphorically and literally, into a new and better place.