For A Poet

The poem positions itself as a marker between two points; the past, to which the speaker is referring, and the prospective future, for which the speaker is preparing. As such, it marks a transition, but one that is effected by the speaker rather than one that is brought about by external circumstances. The speaker’s actions drive the poem and its significance, centering its reflection on the action of wrapping “dreams in a silken cloth” (Line 1) and laying “them away in a box of gold” (Line 2), while only hinting at the circumstances that left the speaker with little other choice. The necessity of this action, of wrapping dreams in a silken cloth, is emphasized through its repetition, as is the laying away of such dreams. This is the only physical act described in “For a Poet,” and it is an act of interment. The implication of the poem, centering on this sole action, is that a new life is only possible with the death of the old life.

The placement of the poem in the Epitaph section of Color evokes words after death, a culminating statement of the lived life. “For a Poet” makes use of death imagery—the burial of dreams and the presence of a moth—to indicate an end, whether it be a part of life or a fostered hope.