“Lines For Winter” by Mark Strand

Photo Credit: www.twanight.org

The title “Lines For Winter” may lead you to believe that the poem, by Mark Strand, is going to be a cheerless one. But in fact, it is surprisingly upbeat. The piece uses the metaphor of winter to represent the bad times in life. And although each of us must survive many winters in our lifetime, in the end, what matters is that we are happy with who we are and how we have lived our lives.

Strand opens, “Tell yourself/as it gets cold and gray falls from the air/that you will go on…” (1-3). The poet urges you to remind yourself that you are capable of continuing on, even when the going gets tough. You are capable of “walking, hearing/the same tune no matter where/you find yourself” (4-6). You can maintain an optimistic attitude even if you are in a difficult situation, or feeling down. Even if you are “inside the dome of dark” (7), you can find some light. It may not be easy, but it’s possible.

We all have a natural inclination to propel ourselves forward, even if we don’t know it. This is what Strand means when he states the following:

Tonight as it gets cold

tell yourself

what you know which is nothing

but the tunes your bones play

as you keep going. (10-14)

Mark Strand

The reason the “tunes your bones play” are all that you know is because no matter what you’re going through, you know how to move forward; it’s within all of us. We must all “keep going,” especially when times are hard, because this is when we grow the most. Things like grief and pain may slow us down, but we can, and should, soldier on. And according to Strand, if you do, you’ll be rewarded: “And you will be able/for once to lie down under the small fire/of winter stars” (14-16). You’ll get to rest eventually and enjoy the victory of living through pain, it just may not be immediate. You’ll be able to reflect on everything calmly in due time, it just takes patience.

Strand then goes on to give advice for when you find yourself facing the biggest difficulty of all: your death. He writes:

And if it happens that you cannot

go on or turn back and you find yourself

where you will be at the end,

tell yourself

in that final flowing of cold through your limbs

that you love what you are. (17-22)

At the very end, even though you may feel helpless, there is still something you can do: accept yourself, and respect the life that you have lived. Love yourself for the person you have turned out to be; don’t leave this life with regrets. That way, even at the end, you’ll still be moving forward.

*Mark Strand Photo Credit: toadustyshelfweaspire.wordpress.com

Related Reading for Those Wanting to Move Forward:

• An interview with Mark Strand
• “‘A Time Between Times’” (SevenPonds)