# For Katrina’s Sun-Dial explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Henry van Dyke Jr..

## What happens

A brief, poetic meditation on the nature of time as experienced through different emotional states, concluding that for those who love, time becomes eternal and irrelevant.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Sacrifice

The poem asserts that for those who love, time ceases to be a measurable quantity, elevating love above temporal concerns.

## Key lines

> Time is Too Slow for those who Wait, Too Swift for those who Fear, Too Long for those who Grieve, Too Short for those who Rejoice; But for those who Love, Time is not.

Time feels slow for the impatient, fast for the anxious, long for the sorrowful, and short for the joyful; yet love transcends time entirely.

_The central paradox of the poem: love nullifies the ordinary experience of time._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_10_se/chapters/for-katrina-s-sun-dial
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_10_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_10_se/chapters