# Meantime explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Fernando Pessoa.

## What happens

The speaker reflects on a beloved figure who is now distant and beyond the reach of joy, hope, and pain. She exists in a past realm, untouched by earthly emotions, yet the speaker imagines that someday she might think of him with delight, though he remains unseen.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Loss

The poem centers on a lost beloved who is far away and unreachable, evoking a sense of longing and separation.

### Time and Mortality

The beloved is described as 'something past' and existing in a timeless domain beyond pain and joy, suggesting the passage of time and the finality of death.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker who mourns a distant beloved and imagines a future memory.

### The Bride

The distant beloved, described as past and beyond pain, joy, or hope.

## Key lines

> Meantime Far away, far away, Far away from here … There is no worry after joy Or away from fear Far away from here.

In the meantime, she is far away, beyond all worry, joy, and fear.

_Establishes the beloved's distant, untroubled state._

> She is something past, Far away from pain. Joy can touch her not, nor hope Enter her domain, Neither love in vain.

She belongs to the past, beyond pain, joy, hope, and even futile love.

_Emphasizes her complete detachment from earthly emotions._

> Perhaps at some day beyond Shadows and light She will think of me and make All me a delight All away from sight.

Maybe someday, in a realm beyond shadow and light, she will remember me and find joy in that memory, though I remain unseen.

_The speaker hopes for a future recollection that will transform him into a source of delight._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_6_se/chapters/meantime
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_6_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_6_se/chapters