And the days are not full enough

And the days are not full enough
And the nights are not full enough
And life slips by like a field mouse
Not shaking the grass

Analysis, meaning and summary of Ezra Pound's poem And the days are not full enough

15 Comments

  1. Hans Lønborg-Madsen says:

    Sorry, not a metaphor. It’s a simile. Silly me.

  2. Hans Lønborg-Madsen says:

    It’s beautiful because it’s not complicated. All it says is that life goes by without our noticing it. The mouse in the grass is merely an extraordinary and original and beautiful metaphor. There are no hidden meanings.

    • Manuel says:

      I think there is a hidden message because differences in between days and night. Maybe conscious and unconscious, I meant not only when we are awake we are living without impact, but while sleeping as well, not dreams, not purpose

  3. Winifred Gilbert says:

    themes of the poem is not available. Explanation of the poem is good.

  4. Ann Mallalieu says:

    If the word” long” is replaced by the word” full” the meaning is I think clear- carpe diem!

  5. Sheryl Skoglund says:

    And the days are not full enough
    And the nights are not full enough
    And life slips by like a field mouse
    Not shaking the grass
    The poet is saying life is not full enough and there is not any “shaking” or movement. He wrote such beautiful poetry yet not moved by life.

  6. Michelle says:

    genius. plain and simple

  7. michael says:

    for a man who was so amazingly productive in the outer world and helped so many others it shows that he was also aware of the neglected inner life:link that to Eliot’s hollow men

  8. zeeie says:

    great poem!it rings so true. how our lives seem as meaningless as that of a field mouse, one day slips pass another, what is there for us to look forward to? just the next day and forever more. but then again, who chooses to live that way? us. it is no one’s fault but ours.

  9. Zak says:

    Everyone one way or another once in their lifetime (some more) can relate deeply. This makes it more bearable, to know everyone feels the same, you are not alone.

  10. evangeline says:

    great great great poem. there is so much truth to it. our lives seem so insignificant, that even as we go through with it, it won’t matter to anyone else. like the way the mouse passes through the field without shaking a single blade of grass.

  11. Brother Geo says:

    Well, golly—-Gee whiz! I do believe poor old Pound left off a round….or at least a verse. I think it would have hit more closer to home if he’d added “…and just whose fault is this?” To live as a mouse and shaketh not a tree?” or some such thing.

  12. marat says:

    most exact description if boredom.i’ve been running away from it throughout my life.

  13. amila, rah says:

    i, like this. it agrees with me,
    -some electricity is needed-

  14. Charlie says:

    This poem is the greatest poem ever written. No four line written have ever packed so much truth.

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