The Pond ("The Pond")
In the poem "The Pond," Church uses the image of a frozen pond in winter as a symbol for the heart of a man who has been forsaken by his friends:
"How like are you to the heart of man! / If friends desert him, and with frowning eye / Refuse him aid, frustrate his cherished plan, / He hardens at this lack of charity / And to the world presents a rigid face, / Offended love fast-frozen at its source. / So you, against the inclement winds that race / Heedless and cold upon their arctic course, / Present a bosom set in icy pride, / Showing no movement as on summer days."
Just as, when the weather is cold, a lake freezes and becomes coldly steadfast, so does a man, his friends having coldly deserted him, harden his own heart against the pain and become immovable.
The Microphone ("Twentieth Century Psalter")
In the poem "Twentieth Century Psalter," Church uses the symbol of a microphone to express the magnification of tragedy in today's era. Even the problems of a small village, he says, are transmitted across the world, making every issue a worldwide one. This results in a constant inundation of bad news from all over, making it seem that there is always a "maniac" in one's ear.
The Leaves of Spring
Throughout much of his work, Church uses the imagery of growing plants in spring as a symbol for the emergence of hope from despair. He often writes of the seasons, and whenever Spring is mentioned, Church always includes descriptions of budding leaves and blossoming plants. Winter is a time of cold stagnation, but spring grows from it, a testament to the endurance of hope.
The Vista ("Anniversary")
In "Anniversary," the narrator and his beloved suddenly come across a magnificent view from a vista, displaying the expansive landscape: "An endless stretch of beauty, in a frame / Of purple distances, and moving browns / Beyond which lay the ocean and the south." This view comes to symbolize the broad expanse of life and the afterlife – the vast, unknowable mystery of the expanse of future life.
The Continent ("A Moment's Escape")
In the poem "A Moment's Escape," Church uses the image of a continent he carries on his back to symbolize the immense weight that lies on his heart, comprising the tensions and anxieties of the modern world. In his own words, it is "heavy with threats of war" and "leaden with tyrannies." The imagery of a continent is reminiscent of the Greek mythological figure Atlas, a Titan who was forced to literally carry the world on his shoulders.
