“Look then right before thee.
Open thine eyes and see.
At the foot of Mt. Serenity
Is thy cradle to eternity.” (pg. 71)
This is the last stanza of the poem that Mr. Tamkin showed Wilhelm in the fourth chapter. At first, Tommy is confused and doesn’t know what to say of it. This feeling then turns into furry towards the old man for having shown him such nonsense in the first place. The passage is really directed towards him, and I believe it is also related to the title of the book. The first two lines say that there is something, something that Wilhelm is looking for, right in front of him. This implies that he had been searching for answers in all but the most obvious places. The third line says that it is “At the foot of Mt. Serenity”, meaning that serenity should be viewed as a mountain, or something hard to conquer. The last line says that this thing that Tommy is looking for is the “cradle to eternity.” This, on the other hand, is at the foot of the mountain, making it an object much easier to capture. What confuses me though, is what this cradle represents. A cradle is known as a support or structure where you keep a baby. But why would speaker use the word “to” instead of the word of? Maybe eternity shouldn`t be viewed as a baby, but as the prize you attain after nourishing or taking care of the hypothetical baby.
Open thine eyes and see.
At the foot of Mt. Serenity
Is thy cradle to eternity.” (pg. 71)
This is the last stanza of the poem that Mr. Tamkin showed Wilhelm in the fourth chapter. At first, Tommy is confused and doesn’t know what to say of it. This feeling then turns into furry towards the old man for having shown him such nonsense in the first place. The passage is really directed towards him, and I believe it is also related to the title of the book. The first two lines say that there is something, something that Wilhelm is looking for, right in front of him. This implies that he had been searching for answers in all but the most obvious places. The third line says that it is “At the foot of Mt. Serenity”, meaning that serenity should be viewed as a mountain, or something hard to conquer. The last line says that this thing that Tommy is looking for is the “cradle to eternity.” This, on the other hand, is at the foot of the mountain, making it an object much easier to capture. What confuses me though, is what this cradle represents. A cradle is known as a support or structure where you keep a baby. But why would speaker use the word “to” instead of the word of? Maybe eternity shouldn`t be viewed as a baby, but as the prize you attain after nourishing or taking care of the hypothetical baby.
With all the things in Wilhelm`s mind at the time, he doesn´t have the patience to think about the meaning of this poem. It also made me realize what type of character Mr. Tamkin is playing. He is obviously very wise, and is going to serve as Tommy`s mentor throughout the rest of the novel.
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