Completely Subjective: Louise Glück’s “Time”
Louise Glück was a poet who created art out of words. She wrote many books which won many awards, most famously the Nobel Prize in Literature. Many of her pieces were written based on her life. She lost her father, went through two divorces, and often struggled with her self-identity. In her early teenage years, she was challenged with anorexia. She was taken out of school to focus on her rehabilitation. In her poem Time, I assume she wrote about her anorexia recovery and her time at home. In the poem, she describes how time slowly passed while she was getting better, but when she entered remission, time flew by quickly. The poem mainly touches on the overall idea of adolescence and growing up. How time is a gift and is often taken for granted.
Although I have never been bedridden due to illness, my life has been put on pause before. During an eighth-grade soccer game, I injured my elbow badly enough to need surgery. I was out of lacrosse and soccer for months on end, and I missed a lot of school due to surgery and checkups. I am not one who does well with so much free time—I often get bored and antsy. Nowadays, my life has continued as is. And honestly, I miss that free time. I feel like I have no time for myself anymore and have never taken advantage of my downtime. I wish I could lay in bed and watch TV all day with no worry.
This part of my life connects to the poem in many indescribable ways. For example, the poem’s first part mentions how still life was when she was stuck at home. All she did was lay in bed, waiting for the time to come when she started to get better. The first line, “There was too much, always, then too little.” has a deep meaning to it. Glück meant that there is an immense amount of time gifted when you don’t want it, but there is much too little time when you do. In the context of the poem, she refers to all her spare time while sick. All she could do was watch the rain, sit with her dogs, and read. As for me, when I had all of this time, I hated it. All I wanted to do was get back to my life; it was the same for her. However, what Glück did that I wish I had done was “remain unconscious.” She enjoyed the time she had off to relax and be zen. She realized there was nothing she could do but rest and get better. She took advantage of this gift because she knew it would soon be taken.
The second half of the poem compares her time dealing with anorexia and her time spent in remission. When Louise Glück looks back, she thinks of it as just a “space of a day.” Although it felt like forever in the moment, she eventually conquered the mountain planted in front of her. Both Louise Glück and I doubted ourselves. She thought she could never overcome her anorexia, just like I thought my arm would never heal. But, even as times get tough, she reminds us that “the bell went back to the cupboard.” In the poem, she mentions how she had a bell on her bedside table for her to ring to alert her mother when she was sick. When she got better and returned to normal, the bell was tucked away for later use.
In summary, Louise Glück wrote this poem to remind us that life challenges will pass, no matter how big or small. They shape us into who we are as people today, and because of them, we are able to learn, reflect, and grow stronger. Glück warns us that time is of the essence. She wishes us to enjoy those small moments and continue to live in the moment. We are never sure when we won’t have them anymore.