The Speaker

The speaker of the poem lives to serve the statue that they care for; they spend every day glueing it, cleaning it, and trying to restore it to its former glory. They know this is an impossible task, and yet they know no other way of living. The poem gives the speaker a sense of dissatisfaction and anger within their role, yet they are “married to shadow” (Line 28); they are bound forever to their thankless position. Through the poem, the speaker seeks understanding and illumination from the statue’s wisdom, but receives none in the thirty years they’ve been caring for it. Ultimately, they lose hope for the statue’s return but continue living the way they always have.

The Statue

The statue is based on the fallen statue of Helios in Rhodes, Greece, which was destroyed by an earthquake. Within the context of the poem...