Some people,
no matter what you give them,
still want the moon.

The bread,
the salt,
white meat and dark,
still hungry.

The marriage bed
and the cradle,
still empty arms.

You give them land,
their own earth under their feet,
still they take to the roads.

And water: dig them the deepest well,
still it’s not deep enough
to drink the moon from.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Denise Levertov's poem Adam’s Complaint

2 Comments

  1. Dania says:

    ‘in its simple language and form the poem describes human nature as true and simple as possible.Beyond the shallow veil of simplicity the combination and choice of words is bewildering in the resulting imagery.’the deepest well is not deep enough to drink the moon’ is Ithink a unique image.

  2. Krystyna says:

    I think this poem is talking about the first men on earth, according to the bible. Adam and Eve had everything they could want. However, even though God told them they could not have the fruit from that tree, they still ate that fruit. That is where man got its greed. Whatever someone has they always want more. The feelings I get from this poem are greed, and wanting. No matter what, people always want more then than they can have. They always want more then they are allowed. We cannot listen to anything someone says. We always go to far, and then look back when we get the consequences.

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