What is the theme of perception in the poem "A Song on the End of the World"?

Quick answer:

The main purpose of "A Song on the End of the World" is to demonstrate that the world is highly subjective and that people perceive it differently. What looks like the absolute end of the world to one person might not bother another person. Everything in the world depends on someone's perception of what is happening.

Expert Answers

| Certified Educator

Cite

"A Song on the End of the World" was written by Czeslaw Milosz in Warsaw in 1944. It's important to note the historical events surrounding the poem; in 1944, Nazis were destroying Warsaw and it really may have looked like the world was coming to an end, yet the poem is tranquil and brims with beautiful images of nature.

The main idea of the poem is that the world is very subjective. The poem begins by stating plainly that the world is ending, yet everything seems to continue operating as normal:

On the day the world ends

A bee circles a clover,

A fisherman mends a glimmering net.

Happy porpoises jump in the sea,

By the rainspout young sparrows are playing

And the snake is gold-skinned as it should always be.

The second stanza repeats the first by again stating that the world is ending, but describing how everyone and everything appears to be ordinary.

On the day the world ends Women walk through the fields under their umbrellas, A drunkard grows sleepy at the edge of a lawn, Vegetable peddlers shout in the street And a yellow-sailed boat comes nearer the island, The voice of a violin lasts in the air And leads into a starry night.

In the third stanza, the poem describes how people normally imagine the world ending: with lightning, thunder, and supernatural happenings. Yet, as long as everything continues as it normally would—the sun rising, bumblebees flying, and babies being born—no one could possibly believe that the world is ending. In the last stanza, it appears as though the world might be ending for the old man, but his experience has no impact on the babies being born, the fisherman, the sleepy drunkard, or any of the other people and things around him. It seems as though there are multiple worlds, each person existing in their own, and when one ends, another may be just beginning or even entirely unaffected.

Get Ahead with eNotes

Start your 48-hour free trial to access everything you need to rise to the top of the class. Enjoy expert answers and study guides ad-free and take your learning to the next level.

Get 48 Hours Free Access

Already a member? Log in here.

Approved by eNotes Editorial