"I struck the board, and cried, 'No more; I will abroad!"
The opening lines of the poem alert us to the fact that this poem retells one person’s frustrated utterances. The speaker of the poem begins the long quote that makes up most of the poem. Here, his anger is palpable, as he strikes a table or altar and asserts that he will “no more” tolerate his present situation.
"Not so, my heart; but there is fruit, And thou hast hands."
While the speaker has so far been lamenting his situation, this second voice reminds him that all his life is not truly fruitless; indeed, “there is fruit” if only he would look for it and grasp it. Here, fruit fits with the motif of the harvest and of wine, referring perhaps to the sacrament.
Methought I heard one calling, Child! And I replied My Lord.
The final lines of the poem mark a resolution to the conflict between the speaker’s two internal voices. Here, the speaker’s rant concluded, he hears another voice—God’s voice calling out to him and addressing him as his “child.” The speaker recognized and returns this call, marking his return to God.
