Analysis of poem
An adult is sitting in a hammock in his garden enjoying a peaceful Sunday morning when his repose (relaxation) is shattered by the appearance of two boisterous children, a little girl and boy – whose chief recreation seems to reside in tormenting the harmless creatures of Nature. Their cruel game sickens the speaker, and his Sunday rest is spoilt as he reflects on the concept of original sin. He also wonders, in the light of the incongruity (strangeness) he has just witnessed, at what point the individual begins to make conscious choices to do good and evil.
The persona in the poem prompted by a disturbing demonstration of cruelty on the part of young children, ponders upon the oddness of it all, when from birth, as it were, children practise an instinctive brutality.
The fact that it is Sunday, traditionally a religious day and a day of rest, emphasizes the unseemliness of the children’s violent behaviour. The persona’s day begins typically as a peaceful, leisurely morning with only a hymn-singing maid softly interrupting the silence. The sudden cries of the children come as an unwelcome intrusion upon his serenity. First, he hears their screams of excitement, and then he sees them in action as in their innocent, but ruthless curiosity, they interact with Nature. Unfeelingly they pierce the eyes of the butterfly then try to “eviscerate the abdomen” until the maid stops their rough game, the angelic little girl screaming in angry protest. The speaker finds it paradoxical that such an innocent little child can be capable of such savagery.
The persona notes the similarity between the frailty of the girl and the airy yellow butterfly, both vulnerable creatures and even though he believes she is safe for the moment, shudders at the thought of her being violated in the same way in the future by some similarly cruel hands.
His mind further recoils in fear because of the thought of man’s ancestral nature (heredity of cruelty) – all individuals have the potential for inhumanity unless they choose to do good. The speaker wonders when choices would begin to be exerted to influence behaviour. The transitory nature of Man’s existence also forms part of his final thoughts as he reflects on our centuries-old history of violence, our ensuing moral development over the years and finally, our mortality. The lesson learnt on that Sunday is profound: it would seem that Man’s entire life is subject to an external design, and he is born with a sinful nature, lives a frail and precarious (uncertain/dangerous) existence and may be cut down like summer grass at any time.
Themes:
·
Original/Ancestral Sin and Free Will
·
Growing Up
·
Cruelty to Nature
·
Man’s Inhumanity to Man
·
Religion and Sin
· Mortality
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Adapted from: https://www.academia.edu/32470811/A_Lesson_for_This_Sunday
Alternative Analyses of Walcott's poem: "A Lesson for This Sunday"
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