Keeping Things Whole – Mark Strand

Theme: Being selfish and being unknown that “Unity is Strength’, we all the people divide society into fragments. Fragmentation is against the will of nature because nature is integral form of living organisms.

Summary:

The poem Keeping Things Whole is taken from Selected Poems (1980). The poet pleads for wholeness against the usual fragmentation that goes on in life. The poet believes in whole part and not in partial. He knows the value of each and every part of nature to present nature as whole. He tries to know the value of each and every small and small constituents of nature to continue the wholeness of nature. The poet indirectly pleads human beings to fill the gaps in the nature if they separate the parts of nature. The poet indirectly pleads human beings to keep nature whole by conserving its every small parts in every small part in every nook and corner.

 The poem deals with two separate things of anything, which are part and whole. The nature has small parts small parts. It is divided into the separate elements. He has lost himself in the field. He is losing himself everywhere. The poet parts the air forward but it becomes whole behind him. He only makes the air whole, not a part. But everything becomes whole itself. We see field, air, etc as a part not as a complete. Our lives are also parted but it is only illusion. If we try to make separate parts, that is only hollowness of concept.

 The poet has presented himself in the field missing and parting in the air and he is whole not part in the bank drop. He wants to be whole, not part. He is not happy with himself because he is an intruder in the natural environment. He feels that he is fragmenting, disturbing and damaging the natural wholeness that is why air moves to fill the spaces occupied by his body while he walks. He becomes careful not to disturb the wholeness of things in the environment. This shows his concern to the protection of environment.

 The poet suggests that if human being involves to encourage the existence of the nature, the nature also gives reaction. For example, if we cut down the forest, land erosion, flood, landslides occur. Then, men get knowledge from the nature that the nature itself is powerful rather from human beings. Even if man tries to challenge the existence of the nature, he can’t get victory over it. So, the poet becomes very much sensitive for the delicate balance of the nature. –

 The last stanza suggests that we all move to make a whole, not part. The poet moves forward and he parts the air but it becomes whole again. So, what we think of being parted i.e; that is wrong. Everything in the world is whole.

Outline of the Poem

Mark Strand wants to keep things whole. He does not want any thing to be broken. He thinks when he is in a field; he breaks the wholeness of the field because he takes up space in it. He also thinks himself as a divider of the air but the space is soon refilled when he moves. He argues that we all have reasons for moving. The reason is to keep things whole. So, the poem pleads for wholeness against the usual fragmentation that goes on in life.  

Questions Answers:

1. Give the summary of the poem

This poem is composed by Mark Strand who indirectly pleads for wholeness both in personal life and in society. In this regard, the poem is against the fragmentation and alienation in our life.

The poet wants to keep things whole. He does not want anything to be broken or fragmented. He thinks that when he is in a field, he breaks the field because he takes up space in it. The only way to keep the field unbroken and whole is to keep moving. It-’s for this reason that he moves always.

This poem has a deeper meaning. He wants to indicate the different fragmentation in our society and in our personal life. He does not want that life should be broken into pieces. It should be taken as a whole. It is only then that the life is successful. For this, our continuous effort is very necessary.