Question

What is the theme of the poem "I Rang the Bells" by Edward Hirsch and what do the last 3 lines mean?

Answer 1

Answer:

I Rang the Bell

        by

Edward Hirsch

I rang the bell

to the past

and the owner let me in

so I could climb

seven steps

and stand in the doorway

of a narrowness

that was once my room

on the second floor

of a split-level house

on the corner

of a suburban development

in the village

of my adolescence

and time bent me back

to that fitful night

when I tried to scale

the rusty stairs

of a freight train rolling

out of control in the yard

so I could set the brakes

and stop the runaway

dead in his tracks

but instead

I pulled a bookcase

down on my body

and woke up

startled

to find my parents

frightened in the hallway

and my books—

or was it my future?—

scattered on the floor.

The poem has a theme of regret.

The last three lines shows that while he failed to change the past and woke up in the present, he wasn't sure if his future was still certain.

Explanation:

From the poem, the boy went back to a period of sadness in his past to try and correct his mistakes.

This is evidenced here

"and time bent me back

to that fitful night

when I tried to scale

the rusty stairs

of a freight train rolling

out of control in the yard

so I could set the brakes

and stop the runaway

dead in his tracks "

Unfortunately for him, he is unable to change the past and he is filled with regret.