“Eros”
“Eros” describes the universality and uncontrollability of love. Ralph Waldo Emerson writes, “The sense of the world I short…To love and be loved;/Men and gods have not outlearned it.” Eros is a disposition that stimulates the intersection between humanity and gods. Eros is preternatural that is why neither human beings nor gods have been able to surpass in in terms of erudition. As a result, gods and humans fall in love. The inability to outshine love means that it is a tantalizing instinct.
“The Past”
“The Past” expounds the sublimity of historic times that cannot be reformed. The unchangeability of the past is analogous to a bolted door that cannot be unlocked. The past is mystical because “ Not the gods can shake “ it. Attempts to reenter the past are unusual; thus they cannot crystallize. The past cannot yield to thieves or trickery because it is already departed. Accordingly, dwelling on bygone debts, verdicts, furies, and plagues is impotent.
“The River”
The river and its environs go above time and impermanence. The speaker observes, “These are the same, but I am not the same.” The speaker matches the manifestation of the river and elements such as fields, flowers and trees when she was a child to their contemporary appearance. The river has not transformed, but the speaker has matured. Nature has risen above transience and maturing. Additionally, the speaker’s assertion, “ They are not of our race, they seem to say/And yet have knowledge of our moral race” implies that nature ( “The stream, trees, grass, the sighing wind”) are not human, but they offer contributory yardsticks on morality which they denote. Therefore, morality reinforces to the interdependence between Mother Nature and humanity.
