Sonnet III by James Agee: The poem and Analysis

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The poem

The wide earth's orchard of your time of knowing,

Shine of the springtime pleasures into bloom

And branched throes of health: but soon the snowing

And tender foretaste of your afterdoom,

Of fallen blossoming air persuades the air

In hardier practices: and soon dilate

Fruits and the air together that shall bear

Earthward the heavied boughs and to their fate:

Wrung of the wealth and wonder they unfurled

By that same air: which air the sun deranges 

To slope the living season from the world

And charge the world with snow that all estranges.

Watch well this sun, and air, and orchard green:

None stay these changes every man has seen.

Analysis 

James Agee's "Sonnet III" is a contemplation on the cyclical nature of life, using the metaphor of an orchard to explore the passage of time and the inevitability of change and mortality.

The poem begins by describing life as an "orchard of your time of knowing," suggesting that life is a period of growth and learning, akin to the blossoming of springtime pleasures. This imagery conveys a sense of vitality and abundance, as well as the transient beauty of youth and health.

However, the poem quickly transitions to the inevitable onset of aging and decline, symbolized by the "snowing" that follows the springtime bloom. This shift in seasons represents the passage of time and the gradual decay of the natural world, mirroring the aging process and the approach of death.

The poem further explores the theme of impermanence through the image of fruits and boughs bearing the weight of their own ripeness, only to be "wrung of the wealth and wonder they unfurled." This image suggests a sense of loss and inevitability, as even the most abundant and fruitful periods of life are destined to come to an end.

Agee emphasizes the role of the sun and air in this cycle of life and death, describing how the sun "deranges" the air to bring about the changing seasons. This imagery highlights the power of nature to shape and dictate the course of life, regardless of human desires or interventions.

The final lines of the poem serve as a reminder of the universal nature of these changes, stating that "None stay these changes every man has seen." This acknowledgment of the shared experience of aging and mortality underscores the poem's meditation on the cyclical nature of life and the inevitability of change.