#6 Poem

"As I Walked Out One Evening"

W. H. Auden

As I walked out one evening,

Walking down Bristol Street,

The crowds upon the pavement

Were fields of harvest wheat.

And down by the brimming river

I heard a lover sing

Under an arch of the railway:

'Love has no ending.

'I'll love you, dear, I'll love you

Till China and Africa meet,

And the river jumps over the mountain

And the salmon sing in the street,

'I'll love you till the ocean

Is folded and hung up to dry

And the seven stars go squawking

Like geese about the sky.

'The years shall run like rabbits,

For in my arms I hold

The Flower of the Ages,

And the first love of the world.'

But all the clocks in the city

Began to whirr and chime:

'O let not Time deceive you,

You cannot conquer Time.

'In the burrows of the Nightmare

Where Justice naked is,

Time watches from the shadow

And coughs when you would kiss.

'In headaches and in worry

Vaguely life leaks away,

And Time will have his fancy

To-morrow or to-day.

'Into many a green valley

Drifts the appalling snow;

Time breaks the threaded dances

And the diver's brilliant bow.

'O plunge your hands in water,

Plunge them in up to the wrist;

Stare, stare in the basin

And wonder what you've missed.

'The glacier knocks in the cupboard,

The desert sighs in the bed,

And the crack in the tea-cup opens

A lane to the land of the dead.

'O look, look in the mirror,

O look in your distress:

Life remains a blessing

Although you cannot bless.

'O stand, stand at the window

As the tears scald and start;

You shall love your crooked neighbour

With your crooked heart.'

It was late, late in the evening,

The lovers they were gone;

The clocks had ceased their chiming,

And the deep river ran on.

Close Reading
The first half of the poem shows us a couple of lovers, one of which is professing the extent of his or her love for the other. It is very straightforward and is a simple, innocent illustration of love, using multiple hyperboles and impossibilities, such as “till China and Africa meet” or “till the ocean is folded and hung up to dry.” They are blatant exaggerations typical of young lovers caught up in the rush of emotions. It seems the poet takes it to an even more exaggerated level than people would in reality, not to show that the lover is exceptionally in love, but to emphasize the lover’s innocence and (for lack of a kinder word,) ignorance.

The poems changes its tone from lighthearted, bubbly love language to a more dark and serious voice in the sixth stanza. Here, the perspective changes from the voice of the lover to the voice of the clocks chiming in the city. The clocks tell them that they cannot conquer Time. The rest of the poem is of the clock lecturing the two lovers about the futility of their love in the face of Time. The seventh stanza tells us that in the shadows, where also Justice dwells naked, Time watches the lovers and coughs when they kiss. The author is saying that the harsh reality of time dispels the magic of young, innocent love, because that love will not only eventually fade and grow old, but that the lovers themselves will ultimately die. Justice is present as well, because this is the law of time, and as timeless as young love may feel, it is subjected to the law of time without exception. Ultimately, time is in control, or “will have his fancy, tomorrow or today,” and the lovers can do nothing about it. Over time, all things decay, such as the green valley becoming covered in snow, or the dancers and divers eventually becoming too old and weak to perform at the same level. Time kills the beauty they produced, just like the love the couple shares.

The poem ends with this: “the clocks had ceased their chiming, and the deep river ran on.” The river was present in the second stanza at the initial meeting of the lovers, and I believe it represents timelessness, or eternity. The lovers were experiencing something timeless, something a part of nature. The clocks however, being a part of the city, try to tell them something otherwise. The city represents modernity and man’s departure from nature and spirituality. Estranged from those things, love becomes something useless because it dies eventually. However, when the clocks ceased their chiming, the river ran on. The pattern of renewal found in nature reflects a glimpse into eternity, and love, though it may change over time, is still tapping into that timelessness that is embodied by the river, which the city and its clocks can’t grasp.