For The Time Being
By W. H. Auden
Well, so that is that. Now we must dismantle the tree,
Putting the decorations back into their cardboard boxes —
Some have got broken — and carrying them up to the attic.
The holly and the mistletoe must be taken down and burnt,
And the children got ready for school. There are enough
Left-overs to do, warmed-up, for the rest of the week —
Not that we have much appetite, having drunk such a lot,
Stayed up so late, attempted — quite unsuccessfully —
To love all of our relatives, and in general
Grossly overestimated our powers. Once again
As in previous years we have seen the actual Vision and failed
To do more than entertain it as an agreeable
Possibility, once again we have sent Him away,
Begging though to remain His disobedient servant,
The promising child who cannot keep His word for long.
The Christmas Feast is already a fading memory,
And already the mind begins to be vaguely aware
Of an unpleasant whiff of apprehension at the thought
Of Lent and Good Friday which cannot, after all, now
Be very far off. But, for the time being, here we all are,
Back in the moderate Aristotelian city
Of darning and the Eight-Fifteen, where Euclid’s geometry
And Newton’s mechanics would account for our experience,
And the kitchen table exists because I scrub it.
It seems to have shrunk during the holidays. The streets
Are much narrower than we remembered; we had forgotten
The office was as depressing as this. To those who have seen
The Child, however dimly, however incredulously,
The Time Being is, in a sense, the most trying time of all.
For the innocent children who whispered so excitedly
Outside the locked door where they knew the presents to be
Grew up when it opened. Now, recollecting that moment
We can repress the joy, but the guilt remains conscious;
Remembering the stable where for once in our lives
Everything became a You and nothing was an It.
And craving the sensation but ignoring the cause,
We look round for something, no matter what, to inhibit
Our self-reflection, and the obvious thing for that purpose
Would be some great suffering. So, once we have met the Son,
We are tempted ever after to pray to the Father;
“Lead us into temptation and evil for our sake.”
They will come, all right, don’t worry; probably in a form
That we do not expect, and certainly with a force
More dreadful than we can imagine. In the meantime
There are bills to be paid, machines to keep in repair,
Irregular verbs to learn, the Time Being to redeem
From insignificance. The happy morning is over,
The night of agony still to come; the time is noon:
When the Spirit must practice his scales of rejoicing
Without even a hostile audience, and the Soul endure
A silence that is neither for nor against her faith
That God’s Will will be done, That, in spite of her prayers,
God will cheat no one, not even the world of its triumph.
Summary of For The Time Being
- Popularity of “For The Time Being”: This is a short part of a long poem, “The Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio” composed by a great English critic, writer, and poet, W. H. Auden. The poem first appeared in 1944 when he published it in his collection, The Sea, and the Mirror, but it is stated that he started composing it back in 1941. The popularity of the poem lies in the depiction of the post-Christmas period and human temperament – the points which have made this poem popular across the world.
- “For The Time Being” As a Representative of Religiosity and Commitment: The speaker of the poem, who happens to be the poet himself, states that all is done and that they should now dismantle the Christmas tree and come back to normal life. The speaker goes on to state that everything is to be disposed of and that the children are to be ready for school, and several things are to be done before getting into the normal routine after the occasion. The Christmas routines have been performed with vows not to do anything disagreeable to God but again, like a “disobedient servant,” all things will be forgotten. Soon this occasion and its holiness will be “a fading memory” though some other occasions are following it.
Now almost all people are back to their routines of earning things, doing academic work, and learning scientific facts. However, this moment becomes pressing for the poet in that it is the routine that becomes heavy on the mind. It seems to the poet that plunging into the material world is like praying to God in the opposite, “Let us into temptation.” However, the main thing is the material world where the poet has to pay the bills, learn things, and repair instruments and machines. Therefore, the poet concludes that it is also God’s will, and this will continue as God does not cheat anyone. - Major Themes in “For The Time Being”: Religiosity, disobedience, God’s will, and materialistic life are some of the major themes of this poem “For The Time Being.” The poet is all praise for the occasion, for the excitement, and for the happiness, and this religiosity is to continue as the occasions like Good Friday are not very far away. However, the man is a little disobedient as he forgets everything when the time passes. He comes to the point saying that like a good boy who forgets after promising, man also forgets what he has promised to God, and it seems that he invites temptations by praying in their favor. This is, however, opposite to what he is going to lead a life where he is much mired in day-to-day activities such as learning, paying bills, and doing daily work. This is, he argues, God’s will that every man must do and that God does not cheat people. Rather, it is his will.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in For The Time Being
- H. Auden used various literary devices to enhance the intended impact of his poem. Some of the major literary devices are analyzed below.
- Allusion: It means to use references from society, history, or culture to stress upon the main idea. The poet has used allusion to classical, philosophical, and scientific figures such as Euclid, Newton, Father Time, and the Christmas festival.
- Alliteration: It means to use initial consonants in successive words. The poem shows the use of consonant sounds, such as /w/ in “who whispered.”
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /a/ and /o/ in “Putting the decorations back into their cardboard boxes” and the sound of /e/ and /o/ in “Left-overs to do, warmed-up, for the rest of the week.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /k/ and /r/ in “The promising child who cannot keep His word for long” and the sound of /f/ and /m/ in “The Christmas Feast is already a fading memory.”
- Enjambment: It means to roll over the sentence to the next verse without any pause. The poem shows constant use of enjambments. For example,
Stayed up so late, attempted — quite unsuccessfully —
To love all of our relatives, and in general
Grossly overestimated our powers. Once again
As in previous years we have seen the actual Vision and failed
To do more than entertain it as an agreeable.
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. H. Auden used imagery in this poem, such as “The holly and the mistletoe must be taken down and burnt”, “Begging though to remain His disobedient servant” and “And Newton’s mechanics would account for our experience.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects different in nature. The poet used the metaphor of a promising child for the people.
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols, such as a tree, decorations, feasts, relatives, and powers to show the role of religion in one’s life.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in For The Time Being
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction: It means the type of language. The poem shows good use of formal, poetic, and melodic diction.
- Free Verse: It means to write poetry without any rhyme scheme or metrical pattern. It is a free-verse poem.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. This is a single-stanza poem with fifty-one verses.
- Tone: It means the voice of the text. The poem shows an exciting, lethargic, and pedantic tone.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are useful to quote when talking about God and God’s will.
When the Spirit must practice his scales of rejoicing
Without even a hostile audience, and the Soul endure
A silence that is neither for nor against her faith
That God’s Will will be done, That, in spite of her prayers,
God will cheat no one, not even the world of its triumph.
