Question

Why does the earthworm think that it's body is absurd

Answer 1

Answer:

The poem is about an earthworm talking about its life. So, the speaker is the earthworm itself, speaking to a person who is presumably present with it in the garden.

 

The poem begins very matter of factly, with the earthworm candidly stating that it is food for birds and fish. Continuing with the food imagery, it describes its body as a ‘sausage’. Then regrets how it is nothing like the beautiful body of the snake. It feels dull and colourless when compared to the snake. The poem seems to be sinking into a depressive state when the earthworm talks about being ‘absurd’ and then all of a sudden tries to redeem its existence by mentioning how  spring ‘depends’ on it for readying the soil.

 

The earthworm feels miserable, for it accepts the fact that it is often mocked at. Continuing with the high and low tide like movement of the poem, it boasts of being able to ‘come together again’ when it is cut in half. Seeking to establish a rapport with the reader/ person present, the earthworm earnestly asks if the reader hasn’t ever felt miserable about his/her physical appearance. The unsaid answer is a ‘yes’. This makes the earthworm and the reader friends, for both have felt the same emotions and hence have common grounds.

 

The earthworm would have liked to sympathize with the reader, but cannot do so, because it is too busy tilling the soil. It asks the person present to bend over it, take a closer look at it. Also, the person is ‘not yet tall’ indicating that the earthworm is talking to a child. It can even mean that the earthworm is suggesting that man can never grow taller than God. Hence, they are prone to such feelings. It is an attempt to make people realise that they are not alone in feeling the way they do and also to sensitise them to the fact that even if a person or a creature looks fine on the outside, they may be depressed.

 

The only way to keep negative thoughts away is by being ‘proud’ of what one is. Ironically, the earthworm has trouble doing the same thing. It alternately feels wretched and then discovers a reason to be proud of itself, but the ups and downs continue, till the poem finally ends on a high. Everyone has felt worthless at some point in life, but that does not give one the excuse to give up.

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