Artwork Analysis: Exploring Earle Birney's Poem 'There are Delicacies'

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of Earle Birney's poem, 'There are Delicacies,' focusing on its central themes of time, mortality, and the fleeting nature of life. The paper explores the poem's use of metaphor, particularly comparing life to a watch, and examines how Birney subtly addresses the concept of death. It argues that the poem uses an interactive approach to engage readers, blending seriousness with levity to emphasize the importance of time. The essay draws parallels with other literary works, such as Andrew Marvell's 'To His Coy Mistress' and the film 'In Time,' to establish the argument that life is intrinsically linked to time. The analysis highlights Birney's lucid and accessible style, which makes the poem relatable to a wide audience, and concludes that the poem's brevity effectively conveys a profound message about making judicious life decisions.

Name of the Student
Name of the Professor
English
3rd April
Life is Time
The paper seeks to analyze one of the remarkable creations of Earle Birney, entitled;
“There are Delicacies”. This ten lined poem might look short but it has an everlasting impact
on the minds of the readers. The length of the poem is deceptive because it does not reflect
how important the message it holds within to offer the readers. The poet has introduced a
grave and extremely critical issue like death so subtly that he portrays the concept of life
under the metaphor of a watch (Woodcock 21). The grim yet inevitable part of life is hidden
under the clever usage of metaphor. Therefore, the paper argues how Birney amalgamates the
fleetingness of life with a similar nature of time.
The poem is an instrument that the poets use to preach the readers and make them
aware of certain things. It is one of the best ways to reach out to the mass and initiate
something new. Here Birney chooses an interactive way through which he fuses seriousness
with levity. H talks about how life is running away and it does not wait for anyone exactly the
way time functions (Nesbitt). The poem is wrapped under the metaphor of a watch where the
activities in a human life are compared to that of a watch. He brings in several parts of a
watch to show how they act similarly along with the different actions in human lives.
This is kind of a didactic poem that puts into all the effort of making the readers
aware of the worth of life and the value of time. He shows how a human body is confined
within the structure of mortality and therefore is restricted to certain edge. The main theme

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ARTWORK ANALYSIS
of the poem being very serious, he chooses not to bore the readers by employing heavy, elite
and erudite words to establish and justify his point. Rather he interestingly adds the concept
of a watch to educate and enlighten the readers about the significance of time in human lives.
Time is fleeting and so is life has been explained in the poem thoroughly. The poet
intelligently chooses the metaphor of watch to define the importance of time. He also merges
the concept of time with the fundamental operating idea of life. He shows that the way the
locks of a watch function is the same way a human life behaves. When the time is gone it
cannot be retrieved. The main theme of the poem can be compared to that of the metaphysical
poem of Andrew Marvell, namely; To His Coy Mistress where the lover insists his beloved
for their physical communion because he is sure of the fact that “Time’s wingèd chariot
hurrying near; / And yonder all before us lie / Deserts of vast eternity”(line 22-24) (Marvell).
He preaches his beloved that time is not stagnant and it is constantly in motion therefore the
responsibility that they have towards their relationship must be fulfilled at the right time. This
poem is also in the path of preaching the same kind of ideology where the poet focuses on the
fleetingness of time. He believes that his readers should understand that once the human body
stops functioning it loses all the power and ability to perform the duties. Therefore, one must
never waste time and invest it carefully and intelligently (Pieters, Stiggelbout, and Montori
25).
The argument that life is nothing but time can be established with another example.
The 2011 science fiction, called In Time directed by Andrew Nicoll also talks about the
importance of time in life. Time has to be bought and used carefully in that movie. Once the
time is lost in some unimportant activity it cannot be revived in something necessary (Roduit,
Eichinger, and Glannon 290). Similarly, the poem teaches the readers that time is like ruby
and trinkets of life, which should be used wisely. If the readers are upto challenge this notion,
they cannot be benefitted at any means. It will be an act of inanity and foolishness if one does

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ARTWORK ANALYSIS
not obey the poet. The poet concentrates on the topic that the opportunity that life offers must
be valued and they should be accomplished with all heart and soul. He has kept his poem
lucid and simple that not only appeals a child but also is appreciated by an adult.
One needs to understand that life will be considered to be wasted if the duties and the
assigned tasks are not done and delivered on time. It is inevitable that after the death of a
human, the human body starts perishing, therefore; he does not get the opportunity to fulfill
his duties and responsibilities. He emphasizes on the fact that nobody gets a second chance.
Death does not discriminate between rich and poor or powerful and week. It can occur to
anybody at any point. It becomes evident when he utters, “There is so little time / Even for
the finest / Of watches” (line 8-10). Here, he means that the niche class of the society is not
exempted from the cruel eyes of death as it has been shown in the short story called “The
Fly” by Katherine Mansfield is that war did not discriminate between the sons of both the
boss and his employee Woodiefield (Edwards 40). Both their sons rest in peace in the same
graveyard. Therefore, through this comparison, he establishes the fact that death equates
everybody and does not act mercifully.
Therefore it can be concluded that the poem with his short length conveys a deep
connotation of life. The paper has justifiably shown how the poet has carefully used all the
elements to show that life is entirely timed; therefore, it should be spent judiciously. The
argument that the paper has chosen is rightfully elaborated with quotations from the poem
and other literary pieces. In conclusion, it can be said that the poet has highlighted how one
should be attentive in making life decisions because it is not going to wait for anybody with a
second chance to offer.

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Works cited
Edwards, Stephen. "Katherine Mansfield and the Trauma of War: Death, Memory and
Forgetting in “An Indiscreet Journey,”“The Garden Party,”“At the Bay,”“Six Years
After” and “The Fly”." Journal of the Short Story in English. Les Cahiers de la
nouvelle 69 (2017): 37-54.
Marvell, Andrew. " To His Coy Mistress" and Other Poems. Courier Dover Publications,
2016.
Nesbitt, Bruce, ed. Conversations with Trotsky: Earle Birney and the Radical 1930s.
University of Ottawa Press, 2017.
Pieterse, Arwen H., Anne M. Stiggelbout, and Victor M. Montori. "Shared decision making
and the importance of time." Jama 322.1 (2019): 25-26.
Roduit, Johann AR, Tobias Eichinger, and Walter Glannon. "Science fiction and human
enhancement: radical life-extension in the movie ‘In Time’(2011)." Medicine, Health
Care and Philosophy 21.3 (2018): 287-293.
Woodcock, George. "Birney's Makings (Earle Birney's Ghost in the Wheels)." Ontario
Review 9.1 (2017): 21.