Question

Explain the poem "infant sorrow" in a short paragraph (5 lines)

Answer 1

On the surface, this poem tells the story of a child's birth (oddly enough, in the voice of the newborn child). But there's far more than that going on. For one, newborns can't speak or write poems, suggesting that the poem isn't coming from the baby but from the soul or spirit of the baby, which has recently departed from God's presence to enter the "dangerous world." That's why this is really a poem about sin and about the worldly suffering that comes with sin. The baby is "crying" and "struggling" because mankind's sin has doomed him or her to a life of suffering on earth. His or her only course of action is therefore "sulk upon my mothers breast"—which is a symbol for turning to God for salvation.