Marianne Moore was a twentieth-century poet who wrote in the shadow of Emily Dickinson, one of the most innovative artists in the field of American literature. Like Dickinson, Moore uses unconventional punctuation and linear divisions to provide structure to her poetry. In "What Are Years," readers encounter a lack of capital letters, numerous chopped-up lines and sentences, and even paragraphs beginning in the middle of a thought. The effect of these formal devices is myriad and must vary from reader to reader. However, it is undeniable that the overall effect us one of musicality: this poem reads like a song, perhaps the one warbled by Moore's bird, a metaphor for the poet herself.

One device that is central to an interpretation of the poem's final stanza is alliteration. Consider the repetition of consonant s sounds at the start of words in the final passage:

So he who strongly feels,
behaves. The very bird,
grown taller as he sings, steels
his form straight up. Though he is captive,
his mighty singing
says, satisfaction is a lowly
thing, how pure a thing is joy.
This is mortality,
this is eternity.

This alliteration creates the kind of hiss one might encounter when listening to a record. Moore was an artist who lived and worked in a vibrant artistic milieu. The figure of the "captive" bird she creates in this poem becomes an apt embodiment of the artist, who struggles to produce beauty amid life's limitations. Thus, the poem is an uplifting depiction of the triumph of art for art's sake. As the poem's speaker notes, "How pure a thing is joy."

Explain the last stanza of "What Are Years" by Marianne Moore line by line.

This nine line section at the end of the poem begins, "So he who strongly feels, / behaves." The meaning here is that one who feels passionately will also behave and act with passion. One might think here of Martin Luther King or Mahatma Ghandi. Both King and Gandhi felt passionately about equality and independence, and both, consequently, acted with passion to bring about positive change.

The next part of this final nine line section reads, "The very bird, grown taller as he sings, steels / his form straight up." Here, Moore is using the singing bird as an example of how people should live. A bird sings and, in doing so, stands tall and proud. Moore is suggesting that people too, should sing or express themselves in some way and be proud to do so. Just as a bird can be true to its own nature by singing, so too can a person be true to their own nature by expressing themselves.

The next lines read,

Though he is captive,
his mighty singing
says, satisfaction is a lowly
thing, how pure a thing is joy.

Here, Moore emphasizes the power of self-expression. Even in captivity, a bird's singing can bring it joy. In the same way, even in difficult circumstances, a person can be joyful through self-expression. In this section of the poem, Moore also encourages people not to settle merely for satisfaction but to aim for joy, which is the result of self-expression in its most "pure" form.

In the final two lines of the poem, Moore writes, "This is mortality, / this is eternity." At first, these two lines seem to contradict one another. "This," being self-expression, cannot be at once "mortality" and its opposite, "eternity." However, perhaps the meaning here is that accepting our mortality and thus the essential nature of our humanity is a prerequisite to self-expression. Only when one accepts one's mortality can one fully appreciate the value and beauty of emotions and self-expression. And when one can achieve this, one's spirit can endure beyond one's physical "mortality" and live for "eternity."