Lines: 1-2

“Ethics” starts with a recollection of an ethics class that Pastan herself attended. The memory centers around a question posed by the teacher, and the poem unfolds as an exploration of its answer. The language used is precise. The question was not just asked every "year," but specifically "every fall," and the imagery of autumn develops significantly as the poem progresses.

Lines: 3-6

In these lines, the poet recalls the question in clear, direct language that brings the past vividly to life. It’s a typical “values clarification” question meant to spark discussion about the relative importance of life versus art: which holds more value in "saving," a renowned painting or an elderly woman? The choice is clearly challenging and touches on various significant ethical issues. However, the students show little interest. Instead of offering their responses, the poem conveys their lack of readiness to answer with any certainty.

Lines: 7-9

These lines further illustrate the students’ indifference. As the poet remembers, neither art nor old age seemed worthy of their enthusiasm or attention. Alternating between choosing life one year and art the next doesn't reflect genuine engagement with the question.

Lines: 10-12

In lines 9 and 10, there is a sudden transition from the classroom setting to the poet’s personal reflections. The poet invites the reader into her imagination, where the hypothetical old woman is no longer faceless; she has "borrowed my grandmother’s face." The kitchen, a recurring image in Pastan’s work, becomes the backdrop of this internal vision, as the grandmother leaves her "usual kitchen" and finds herself in a nondescript, somewhat unattractive museum. This departure from the "usual" is clearly unsettling for the old woman, who can only "wander" through the museum. This internal image highlights young "Linda's" unfamiliarity with both art and aging. In her mind, these aspects of the question remain tied to stereotypes and the "usual."

Lines: 13-16

Midway through the poem, there’s another shift, moving from the internal back to the external, as the poet responds to the teacher’s question. The typical gap between teacher and student is starkly illustrated in these concise lines. The poet-student offers a naive suggestion that the old woman should "decide herself." The teacher responds in somewhat didactic language, indicating that this response avoids moral responsibility, noting that "Linda … eschews" its demands. Line 15 firmly establishes that the poem’s perspective and experiences are those of Pastan herself.

Lines: 17-19

In line 17, the poem transitions from the past to the present. The verb tense shifts to the simple present, turning the "every fall" of past years into "this fall." The imagined museum and painting have disappeared, replaced by a "real Rembrandt" in a "real museum." This scene is now viewed through the perspective of someone "nearly" an old woman, and autumn signifies more than just a season; it represents the phase of her life.

Lines: 20-23

To prevent the parallel between autumn and aging from becoming a cliché, the poet notes that the colors in the painting are actually "darker than autumn." They are "darker even than winter," the bleakest season. The poet perceives both the painting and her experience with an inner vision, guided by the painting's luminous darkness to a kind of mystical insight. In this journey, the "browns of earth" transcend mere paint and color. In an image reminiscent of the fire framing the teacher’s question, these elements "burn" beyond the Rembrandt's frame, imparting wisdom that eluded the poet in her restless youth.

Lines: 24-25

The final two lines reveal what the poet has learned, which seems to extend beyond "ethics," surpassing the...