The poet begins with a tone of anger and resentment as he expresses his wish to not be born. He is in deep anguish that he was not able to choose death against life. The question of having the choice to decide if one wants to live or die has been put forth in the first paragraph of the poem.
The poet thinks that he could wish what he wanted to do- live or die while taking birth. The lines put the reader in a position to understand that the poet is unhappy with his life and wishes that he could instead choose to die. But the fact that no one gave his the option or choice to decide for himself makes him feel miserable and disappointed.
To the poet’s sad, arguing state the nature tries to give an answer. The nature says that you get back exactly what you give. Nothing other than your own deeds is what you pay for. All the suffering or the state of disgust is what you have got as a result of what acts you were involved in. So, instead of questioning and condemning nature or God, you need to see inside yourself to understand how you have been all this time. It urges the poet to sit back in reverence and ask his mind as to where it was when it did all that it is bound to pay back today in form of his misery.
The nature holds the man or the reader responsible for all his disappointment. Nature answers that when a child is born; he is innocent and full of self-belief. He is endowed with hope and patience. Nature gives him a sound body and mind. It provides the human with intellect and possibilities to grow and nurture. He has all that he needs to make his life fruitful and worthy. Life is a blessing to any human being. The nature then pities the human who is shameless to not express gratitude for its kindness and blessings.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Instead a human being becomes selfish in his mottos and lazy to make any efforts from his end. He does not consider himself able and work upon his life to make it valuable. This leads to hopelessness and he tends to blame the nature and hold it guilty for giving him this life.
Nature also feels low about the human who has only blamed it and never appreciated it for the beautiful life that he got. Nature is asking the reader to contemplate and find out the people as well the beings in other species who are more or less fortunate than him. After he has drawn a comparison and inspected if his life is better or worse than the rest, then should he decide if he actually wants to die. Self-introspection and realisation to discover the blessings of your life is important before cursing life for all the miseries that come to your share. Life will seem more worthy when we begin to value it as well as the resources that Mother Nature has bestowed upon us.