Poetry · Chapter
Poems in Prose explained
A collection of prose poems exploring themes of art, sacrifice, redemption, sin, divine judgment, and the pursuit of wisdom.
What happens
A collection of prose poems exploring themes of art, sacrifice, redemption, sin, divine judgment, and the pursuit of wisdom. The Artist sacrifices a permanent sorrow for a fleeting pleasure; The Doer of Good encounters those he healed now living in sin; The Disciple reveals the pool's love for Narcissus; The House of Judgment presents a man whose life of evil leads to a paradoxical verdict; The Teacher of Wisdom finds sorrow in spreading knowledge; and The Hermit ultimately trades knowledge for love.
Themes in this chapter
Suffering and Redemption
Central to 'The Doer of Good' and 'The Teacher of Wisdom'; characters who have been healed or saved still suffer from sin or sorrow, and redemption is portrayed as a complex, often paradoxical process.
Spirituality and Doubt
Explored in 'The House of Judgment' where the man cannot imagine Heaven, and in 'The Teacher of Wisdom' where the protagonist's perfect knowledge leads to sorrow and ultimately to love.
Transience and Mortality
Evident in 'The Artist' where a permanent sorrow is melted down to create a momentary pleasure, and in 'The Disciple' where Narcissus's death transforms the pool.
Characters to notice
- The Teacher of Wisdom
Protagonist of the final prose poem; a man who possessed perfect knowledge of God, gave it away to a young robber, and was then granted perfect love of God.
- The Hermit
Appears in the final poem; a hermit who once had perfect knowledge of God, refuses to give it to a young robber until the last moment, then weeps and is visited by a divine figure.
- The Young Man
Appears in 'The Doer of Good' as a healed leper now living in debauchery, and later as a weeping man raised from the dead.
- Narcissus
Referenced in 'The Disciple'; his death causes the pool to change from sweet waters to salt tears, and the pool reveals its love for him.
- Christ
Implied figure in 'The Doer of Good' who heals a leper, gives sight to a blind man, forgives a woman's sins, and raises a dead man; also appears as the divine figure with feet of brass and hair like fine wool in 'The Teacher of Wisdom'.
- Love
Mentioned in 'The House of Judgment' as something the man gave lust in return for; also implicitly present in the final poem's theme of perfect love.
Key passages
“And out of the bronze of the image of The Sorrow that endureth for Ever he fashioned an image of The Pleasure that abideth for a Moment.”
He melted down the statue representing eternal sorrow to create a statue representing fleeting pleasure.
Illustrates the theme of transience and the sacrifice of permanence for momentary joy.
“But I was a leper once, and you healed me. How else should I live?”
The young man argues that since Christ healed his leprosy, he is now free to live a life of indulgence.
Highlights the paradox of redemption and the misuse of divine gifts.
“But was Narcissus beautiful? ... Who should know that better than you? ... But I loved Narcissus because, as he lay on my banks and looked at me, in the mirror of his eyes I saw ever my own beauty mirrored.”
The pool reveals that its mourning for Narcissus is not for his beauty, but because in his eyes it saw its own reflection.
Subverts the Narcissus myth, emphasizing self-love and the nature of beauty.
“Because in Hell have I always lived.”
The man claims that his entire life has been a state of hell, so God cannot send him there as punishment.
Reflects the theme of spiritual doubt and the subjective nature of damnation.
“Before this time thou hadst the perfect knowledge of God. Now thou shalt have the perfect love of God.”
The divine figure tells the Hermit that by giving away his knowledge, he has earned a higher gift: perfect love.
Climactic moment emphasizing the superiority of love over knowledge in spiritual growth.
