Child Logic
In the poem “Child Logic” a group of children experiments with a tomahawk (a small axe), resulting in a severed finger.
In the first stanza, the “smallest girl” of the group is chosen as the subject of the experiment and it is implied that one boy, the leader of the group, intended to cut the finger off.
The second stanza takes place immediately after he cut off her finger. Realizing that their action will have severe consequences all the kids run away, leaving the injured girl. The last line of the stanzas reveals that the same boy will also injure the girl’s brother at a later point.
In the third and fourth stanza the girl is hiding behind a bush with her cut-off finger, too afraid to face her parent who she knows will disapprove. The last line however hints at the fact that, though she knows her parents will be angry, she doesn’t understand what exactly she did wrong in that situation.
The Meaning of Existence
In the poem “The Meaning of Existence” the narrator reflects upon the unique status of language as a thing without existence.
In the first stanza the narrator establishes that everything that exists knows about the state of being in existence, due to its pure physical being. This, according to the narrator, would include everything except language, which is an indefinite concept and does not have a physical form.
In the second stanza the narrator includes themselves into the equation. They state that they, as a physical being, would also technically know about existing. However, because they can formulate and speak language, they lose the “full dignity” (l. 8) of their original state.
“Predawn in Health”
The brief poem “Predawn in Health” is taking place outside in nature, right before dawn. An unidentified narrator is urging an unidentified “you” to make use of the future ahead.
