Chapter 73: As the Day We Were Born – Summary and Analysis
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
The poem opens with the speaker confessing a recurrent desire to be “good.” This longing arrives unexpectedly, personified as a well-dressed woman whose presence triggers shame: the speaker feels out of place and flooded with regret, imagined as “cemeteries” returning to their proper shape. Just as the shame threatens to overwhelm, a deeper, more instinctive voice intervenes. It asks about the Arctic Tern, the Sooty Shearwater—birds famous for epic migrations. Unlike the “elegant coat” of social expectation, this voice speaks of movement, dreaming, and a lack of artificial covering. The poem thus stages a conflict between external standards of goodness and an inner, wilder sense of purpose.
Key Events
- The speaker experiences a sudden, inexplicable longing to be good.
- This longing is personified as a “lady in an elegant coat,” whose implied question (“what could you possibly be doing here?”) fills the speaker with shame.
- The speaker’s regret surfaces in the image of “cemeteries of regret returning to their proper form.”
- A counter-voice from “somewhere deeper” asks about the Arctic Tern and the Sooty Shearwater.
- This voice reframes the speaker’s nature as a “migration of a dreamer,” bare of hat or coat.
Character Development
- The Speaker: The poem offers a snapshot of internal conflict. The speaker is torn between a desire to conform to an external ideal of goodness and an inherent, restless impulse represented by migratory birds. No backstory is given, but the emotional arc moves from shame toward a reclaiming of a more authentic self.
- The Lady in the Elegant Coat: A personification of societal judgment or an internalized superego. She represents polished expectations that make the speaker feel inadequate.
- The Deeper Voice: An unnamed, instinctual counterforce that champions freedom, movement, and natural purpose. It does not argue with the lady; it simply asks about birds and shifts the frame.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- Goodness vs. Authenticity: The poem questions what it means to be “good.” The speaker’s longing for goodness is depicted as an alien imposition; the deeper voice offers a different standard rooted in natural instinct.
- Shame and Regret: Shame is evoked by the lady’s question, and regret is visualized as orderly cemeteries—suggesting that regret can be arranged, contained, but never erased.
- Birds as Symbols of Migration and Freedom: The Arctic Tern and Sooty Shearwater are among the world’s most accomplished long-distance migrants. By invoking them, the deeper voice links the speaker’s identity to journeying, dreaming, and an existence unburdened by social “coats.”
- Clothing as Social Mask: The elegant coat of the lady contrasts with the speaker’s lack of hat or coat in the final line, emphasizing a move from artifice to vulnerability—or to a state of natural being “as the day we were born.”
Why This Chapter Matters
Though brief, this poem crystallizes a central tension in And Yet: the pressure to conform to a narrow definition of goodness versus the urge to live expansively. The title, “As the Day We Were Born,” suggests a return to an original, unadorned self before societal conditioning. The chapter does not resolve the conflict; instead, it allows the deeper voice to have the last word, affirming that there is value in following one’s own migration. For readers, it models how to listen past shame and reconnect with a more fundamental sense of purpose.
Study Questions and Answers
1. What does the “lady in an elegant coat” represent, and why does her question fill the speaker with shame?
The lady personifies an idealized standard of goodness—likely a social or moral expectation that the speaker feels unable to meet. Her question (“what could you possibly be doing here?”) implies the speaker does not belong in the world of “goodness.” The shame arises from the gap between who the speaker is and who they think they should be.
2. How does the deeper voice’s reference to the Arctic Tern and Sooty Shearwater contrast with the opening longing for goodness?
The Arctic Tern and Sooty Shearwater are birds known for epic, instinct-driven migrations. Their mention shifts the focus from static, rule-based goodness to dynamic, natural movement. The deeper voice implies that the speaker’s true nature is not about being “good” in a conventional sense but about journeying, dreaming, and following an inner compass.
3. What might the final line, “No hat or coat to speak of,” mean in the context of the poem?
The line directly contrasts with the “elegant coat” of the lady. It suggests a stripping away of social armor and pretense, leaving the speaker exposed but free—a state of being as unadorned as the day of birth. It reinforces the idea that authenticity requires vulnerability and the courage to abandon prescribed roles.