Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Renascence" by Thomas Sturge Moore speaks to the theme of personal transformation and liberation. In the poem, the speaker urges the soul to forget its past disappointments, failures, and uncertainties, urging it to move towards the future like it's moving towards light. This is a call for self-renewal, a renaissance of the soul. The poem is uplifting and positive, promoting a forward-looking attitude and the belief in one's potential for change and growth.

The poem begins with a plea to the soul to forget its past-the disappointments, failures, and heartbreaks. The speaker seems to suggest that dwelling on these past events only serves to create a cycle of disappointment, preventing the soul from experiencing true happiness and fulfillment.

In the second stanza, the speaker extends the plea, urging the soul to embrace the future with the same enthusiasm and joy as one would embrace a new day. The speaker uses the imagery of a bather on the shore, eagerly discarding his clothes to plunge into the ocean, to illustrate the idea of embracing the future unencumbered by the past.

The third stanza moves beyond the simple exhortation to forget the past. It speaks of the soul being 'naked' and 'fair', untainted and unmasked. It is an urging towards honesty, purity and openness, indicating that forgetting the past is also about shedding past deceptions or disguises.

The final lines of the poem reinforce the optimism of the entire piece, declaring that "wrong is wholly doomed, is doomed and bound to cease". This not only underscores the message of the poem - the possibility of renewal and liberation - but also gives the reader a sense of the profound joy and freedom that such a transformation can bring.

Provenance

Thomas Sturge Moore (1870-1944) was an English poet, author and artist. He was a long-term friend and correspondent of W. B. Yeats. This poem, "Renascence", seems to reflect Moore's interest in spirituality and personal growth, a theme that recurs in his work.

Structure and Form

"Renascence" is written in free verse, meaning it does not adhere to a strict rhyme scheme or metrical pattern, which gives the poet greater flexibility to convey his message. The poem is divided into four distinct stanzas, each with its own thematic focus but all contributing to the overarching theme of the poem. The language is straightforward and direct, with vivid imagery used to underscore the poem's message of liberation and rebirth. The poem's structure, with its movement from past to future, from disappointment to joy, mirrors the transformational journey it advocates.

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