Poem - Loneliness Summary

Harvesting Life

In the poem "Loneliness" by Laura Cortes there seems to exist a small hope and wish for the past. The poem has many lines that seem to show an echo for the similarities of harvesting the apples and the harvest of life itself. Through the course of the poem, the speaker uses the word ghosts to hint at the death of family members. The line "Now he and the trees are tired and old. " (14) Obviously hints to the speaker being of old age.

The man in the poem seems to reiterate the fact that he is headed towards the end of his life several times. He also seems to view the trees he had planted so long ago with much endearment. The lines "He takes care of them every week; / he planted the trees forty summers ago" (5-6) make it very clear that he still much cares for the trees. As he "remembers wonderful harvests" (9) he mentions the workers on his farm "with forty hands helping and carrying," tending to the family of trees, while his "young and united family smiling. " (12) watches on.

The similarities of harvesting the apples and harvesting life come from the speakers use of the the words "surrounded by ghosts and memories" (3) and "surrounded by memories and ghosts," (15). These 'ghosts and memories' are related towards the man's family in line three, and are reused in line fifteen in reference to the trees. The poem ends with the uplifting line "they are waiting for the next harvest with hope." (16) with 'they' representing not only the trees, but the family as well. This was the author's intent to show the similarities of harvesting crops and harvesting life.

"Lowliness" is a somber poem with an uplifting end. It serves as a way for the author to revisit times of happiness with his family. It also allows the author to share happier times of work in the fields, providing a living for his family.