Part one of term paper
W.H. Auden's poem about the contrast between "eternal love" and the impersonal march of time shows the irrationality of people in love, and the blind, callous nature of time, through the use of language and imagery. The lover's attitude is one of pleasant optimism. He is filled with poetic thoughts, and given to metaphor, such as his view o ...

Part two of term paper
... power and durability of love. The attitude of the clocks however, is of pessimistic warning. For no matter how strong a man's love may be, time winds inexorably along. One cannot halt nor reverse the march of time, it is unconquerable, the unrenewable commodity. The tone of the poem turns reproachful, dark, as the clocks' chime tells of the world that is powerless before time. To say that " vaguely life leaks away," the author is possibly attempting to covey that every moment lost c ...