Caedmon," too, contains some of this sense of contradictory juxtaposition, especially in the line towards the end of the poem where the speaker reflects that she "was at home and lonely, / both in good measure" (23-4). In the poem, the speaker (presumably a child, as she learned early to do what she describes doing) quietly leaves a dance for which she feels inadequate and goes to sit amongst the cows and other livestock in the barn, who "munched or stirred or were still" (22). She stays here peacefully until an angel of fire awakes her and draws her back into the dance. It is unclear exactly what this angel is supposed to represent, or even if it is to be taken symbolically. What is clear, however, is the equal measures of the speaker's -- and Levertov's -- passion and placidity. Though not at home in the dance at first,...
[ View Full Essay]