Edwin Robinson Analysis

[nick898]

What do you think this poem means? The name of it is Zola

Because he puts the compromising chart
Of hell before your eyes, you are afraid;
Because he counts the price that you have paid
For innocence, and counts it from the start,
You loathe him. But he sees the human heart
Of God meanwhile, and in His hand was weighed
Your squeamish and emasculate crusade
Against the grim dominion of his art.

Never until we conquer the uncouth
Connivings of our shamed indifference
(We call it Christian faith) are we to scan
The racked and shrieking hideousness of Truth
To find, in hate’s polluted self-defence
Throbbing, the pulse, the divine heart of man.

In my opinion, I think it has something to do with truth and the bad things about life maybe but I'm not quite sure yet. What do you think?

[mono]

Tough one! I think the analysis depends on the reader's perspective quite a bit - the poem's topic seems almost ambiguous. What I derive, however, seems that truth, found through the human heart and not religious abstractions, never exists with mediocrity; it requires seeking. Concepts such as fear and hate only impede a path toward finding truth that some anonymous "he" places before our eyes.
In conclusion, the poem seems to support the Socratic idea that we always find truth within ourselves, and not entirely from our surroundings.
Thanks for posting, and welcome to the forum.