Poem Science Poem Analysis

The poem “Science” is fifteen lines long and is addressing the fact that man has become so advanced, that one can destroy themselves with their own products.The poem is structured with no stanzas. Therefore, it is a free verse poem. The poem starts with two long lines and a very short line after, repeating that arrangement for four times. Throughout this poem, Jeffers presents a speaker who states his or her views on man’s progress on science.
The speaker presents off with “Man, Introverted man, having crossed” (1). Here the speaker uses word choice carefully as he or she describes mankind as introverted and being crossed. Introverted meaning that man is too concerned with their own thoughts. The fact that the speaker uses past tense for powerful words prove that man is already way too far and cannot come back from their dangerous endeavors. The speaker immediately adds,”In passage and but a little with the nature of things this -/ latter century” (2-3). The image that man has “passage” through shows that science has taken the path of slowly detering away from the normal behavior of society as stated in “the nature of things” (2). Science has become so dedicated to advancing ahead that they aren’t apart of this century. Therefore, the speaker is addressing this concern that man is not being cautious. The speaker then introduces

He or she states,” A little knowledge, a pebble from the shingle,-/ A drop from the oceans:”(13-14) Here the speaker is using imagery to demonstrate the little knowledge people have on science. Therefore, what he or she is presenting is how little knowledge about an idea can lead to overconfidence. This can lead to one being reckless and eventually lead to their downfall. If one could instead have more knowledge about an idea, then that person would be more cautious and at least draw better conclusions about