George Gray

I have studied many times
The marble that was chiseled for me--
A boat with a furled sail at rest in a harbor.
In truth it pictures not my destination
But my life.
For love was offered me and I shrank from its disillusionment;
Sorrow knocked at my door, but I was afraid;
Ambition called to me, but I dreaded the chances.
Yet all the while I hungered for meaning in my life.
And now I know that we must lift the sail
And catch the winds of destiny
Wherever they drive the boat.
To put meaning in one's life may end in madness,
But life without meaning is torture
Of restlessness and vague desire--
It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.

Questions for George Gray:

1. Explain what George Gray's name suggests about his personality.
2. Define analogy
3. Explain the analogy in the poem.
4. In a nutshell, what was Gray's opinion of the life he lived?
5. Specifically, what was Gray's problem.
6. In what ways are you like George Gray? Explain.

 

George Gray

This poem was based on Lucien Gray (b.1867). He was the son of John Gray of Lewistown, a lawyer and circuit court judge. Lucien was a boyhood acquaintance of Masters and later a Lewistown lawyer. In a letter to Edwin Reese, Masters refers to Gray as "a man that didn't take part in things." "The speaker's name, Gray, symbolizes his inability to assert himself and hence his lack of self-realization."