Interpretation: The Term

The sky is falling. Pigs are flying. I, the Tardy Queen, reached school on time.

The impossible had happened.

For Anime had taken a backseat in my life.

Yes, it is true.
Hell has frozen over as I chucked Anime aside to make way for the need to pass my exams.I actually attempted to study seriously for once. Whether or not the attempts were successful was an entirely different matter.
Thus, to fulfill my promise to work and play in equal amounts, I’ve decided to post my somewhat interpretation of one of the possible tested poems in the exams. It gives me a reason to use the PC for surfing Yaoi fanfiction at the same time.

Interpretation of “The Term”

The Term by W.C. Williams

A rumpled sheet
of brown paper
About the length

and apparent bulk
of a man was
rolling with the

wind slowly over
and over in
the street as

a car drove down
upon it and
crushed it to

the ground. Unlike
a man it rose
again rolling

with the wind over
and over to be as
it was before.

The poem is comparing mankind to paper [“length and apparent bulk of a man”].

“A rumpled sheet of brown paper”represents a downtrodden man. I think Downtrodden in this case, refers to someone of little or no importance to mainstream society. A street tramp perhaps. The sort of person whom everyone sees but pretend they’ve not noticed. “rumpled” & “brown” represents the cheapness of the paper [Grocery bag] and worthlessness[Crumpled], thus meaning that it is nothing extraordinary.

“rolling with the wind slowly over and over” refers to the various minor trials and tribulations man encounters in everyday life. Such as being late for an event [E.g. A group outing] or forgetting to do a minor task [E.g. Posting a letter.]. Or it can mean that man is tossed around like a piece of rag in the endless flow of troubled life.

Why endless? “slowly over and over” is somewhat like the routine torture which Zeus inflicts upon Prometheus by tormenting him with an eagle as it ripped his immortal flesh and devoured his liver. Each night, the torn flesh would heal so the eagle could restart its task at dawn.
Life inevitably does that to us humans. Torture, that is.
[For full story, go here: Legend of Prometheus]

“a car drove down” represents the great obstacle in life which everyone faces and is usually unforgettable as it marks a sort-of turning point in life. [Man would either go downhill from there or turn over a new leaf and go for the better.]

“crushed it to the ground.” refers to the lowest point of gravity. Or life, for that matter.

“Unlike a man” “it rose again” Perhaps the poet is hinting that man is not as strong as he likes to think? Although paper can never compare to man, it is in a way, more durable than man’s nature?

“over and over to be as it was before” Back to the monotonous life of a wrinkled-up piece of paper. Or is it referring to man, who picked himself up and returns to his day-to-day routine of dealing with life’s minor annoyances.