Published in The Poems of Stanley Kunitz (1978) when the poet was 73, "The Layers" deals with themes of aging, change, and loss. Its speaker, who is old enough to have "walked through many lives" (or at least feel like he has), contemplates the milestones he's passed and the friends he's outlived. By celebrating all the "layers" of his experience rather than dwelling on the loss he's left with, he's able to overcome his grief and move forward in life. A poem that Kunitz called a "summing-up" of his own experience, "The Layers" dramatizes the courage it takes both to look back and move on.

• Read the full text of “The Layers”

• “The Layers” Summary

• “The Layers” Themes

  • 

    Life, Loss, and Transformation

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-44

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Layers”

  • Lines 1-3

    I have walked ...
    ... who I was,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 4-6

    though some principle ...
    ... not to stray.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 7-10

    When I look ...
    ... on my journey,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 11-16

    I see the ...
    ... on heavy wings.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 17-21

    Oh, I have ...
    ... feast of losses?

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 22-25

    In a rising ...
    ... stings my face.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 26-31

    Yet I turn, ...
    ... precious to me.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 32-36

    In my darkest ...
    ... directed me:

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 37-38

    “Live in the ...
    ... on the litter.”

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 39-44

    Though I lack ...
    ... with my changes.

    

    

    

    

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• “The Layers” Symbols

  • 

    Journeys/Roads

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-16
    • Lines 22-25
    • Lines 26-31
    • Lines 39-44
  • 

    Campsites/Campfires

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 13-19: “and the slow fires trailing / from the abandoned camp-sites, / over which scavenger angels / wheel on heavy wings. / Oh, I have made myself a tribe / out of my true affections, / and my tribe is scattered!”
  • 

    Scavenger Angels

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 13-16: “and the slow fires trailing / from the abandoned camp-sites, / over which scavenger angels / wheel on heavy wings.”
  • 

    Dust

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 22-25: “In a rising wind / the manic dust of my friends, / those who fell along the way, / bitterly stings my face.”
  • 

    Night

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 32-38: “In my darkest night, / when the moon was covered / and I roamed through wreckage, / a nimbus-clouded voice / directed me: / “Live in the layers, / not on the litter.””
  • 

    Wreckage/Litter

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 32-38: “In my darkest night, / when the moon was covered / and I roamed through wreckage, / a nimbus-clouded voice / directed me: / “Live in the layers, / not on the litter.””
  • 

    Layers

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 32-38: “In my darkest night, / when the moon was covered / and I roamed through wreckage, / a nimbus-clouded voice / directed me: / “Live in the layers, / not on the litter.””

• “The Layers” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 5: “struggle”
    • Line 6: “stray”
    • Line 16: “wheel,” “wings”
    • Line 17: “made,” “myself,” “tribe”
    • Line 18: “true”
    • Line 19: “tribe”
    • Line 23: “friends”
    • Line 24: “fell”
    • Line 25: “face”
    • Line 28: “with,” “will”
    • Line 29: “wherever”
    • Line 34: “roamed,” “wreckage”
    • Line 37: “Live,” “layers”
    • Line 38: “litter”
    • Line 39: “lack”
    • Line 40: “decipher”
    • Line 41: “no,” “doubt,” “next”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “some of”
    • Line 3: “was”
    • Line 4: “some”
    • Line 5: “from,” “struggle”
    • Line 10: “proceed,” “journey”
    • Line 11: “see”
    • Line 25: “bitterly stings”
    • Line 28: “go”
    • Line 29: “go”
    • Line 30: “stone,” “road”
    • Line 34: “wreckage”
    • Line 36: “directed”
    • Line 37: “Live in”
    • Line 38: “not on,” “litter”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “I have walked through many lives, / some of them my own,”
    • Line 10: “to proceed on my journey,”
    • Lines 17-19: “Oh, I have made myself a tribe / out of my true affections, / and my tribe is scattered!”
    • Lines 20-21: “How shall the heart be reconciled / to its feast of losses?”
    • Line 23: “the manic dust of my friends”
    • Lines 37-38: ““Live in the layers, / not on the litter.””
    • Lines 41-43: “no doubt the next chapter / in my book of transformations / is already written.”

  • Paradox

    

    

    

    

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    Where paradox appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-3: “I have walked through many lives, / some of them my own, / and I am not who I was,”
    • Lines 20-21: “How shall the heart be reconciled / to its feast of losses?”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Lines 17-19: “Oh, I have made myself a tribe / out of my true affections, / and my tribe is scattered!”
    • Line 26: “I turn, I turn,”
    • Lines 28-29: “with my will intact to go / wherever I need to go,”

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

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    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Lines 11-16: “I see the milestones dwindling / toward the horizon / and the slow fires trailing / from the abandoned camp-sites, / over which scavenger angels / wheel on heavy wings.”
    • Lines 22-25: “In a rising wind / the manic dust of my friends, / those who fell along the way, / bitterly stings my face.”
    • Lines 32-36: “In my darkest night, / when the moon was covered / and I roamed through wreckage, / a nimbus-clouded voice / directed me:”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 4-5: “being / abides”
    • Lines 5-6: “struggle / not”
    • Lines 8-9: “look / before”
    • Lines 9-10: “strength / to”
    • Lines 11-12: “dwindling / toward”
    • Lines 12-13: “horizon / and”
    • Lines 13-14: “trailing / from”
    • Lines 15-16: “angels / wheel”
    • Lines 17-18: “tribe / out”
    • Lines 20-21: “reconciled / to”
    • Lines 22-23: “wind / the”
    • Lines 28-29: “go / wherever”
    • Lines 30-31: “road / precious”
    • Lines 33-34: “covered / and”
    • Lines 35-36: “voice / directed”
    • Lines 39-40: “art / to”
    • Lines 41-42: “chapter / in”
    • Lines 42-43: “transformations / is”

  • End-Stopped Line

    

    

    

    

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    Where end-stopped line appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-3: “I have walked through many lives, / some of them my own, / and I am not who I was,”
    • Line 6: “not to stray.”
    • Line 7: “When I look behind,”
    • Line 10: “to proceed on my journey,”
    • Line 14: “from the abandoned camp-sites,”
    • Line 16: “wheel on heavy wings.”
    • Lines 18-19: “out of my true affections, / and my tribe is scattered!”
    • Line 21: “to its feast of losses?”
    • Lines 23-27: “the manic dust of my friends, / those who fell along the way, / bitterly stings my face. / Yet I turn, I turn, / exulting somewhat,”
    • Line 29: “wherever I need to go,”
    • Lines 31-32: “precious to me. / In my darkest night,”
    • Line 34: “and I roamed through wreckage,”
    • Lines 36-38: “directed me: / “Live in the layers, / not on the litter.””
    • Line 40: “to decipher it,”
    • Lines 43-44: “is already written. / I am not done with my changes.”

  • Personification

    

    

    

    

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    Where personification appears in the poem:

    • Lines 15-16: “over which scavenger angels / wheel on heavy wings.”
    • Lines 22-25: “In a rising wind / the manic dust of my friends, / those who fell along the way, / bitterly stings my face.”

  • Rhetorical Question

    

    

    

    

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    Where rhetorical question appears in the poem:

    • Lines 20-21: “How shall the heart be reconciled / to its feast of losses?”

• “The Layers” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Abides
  • Compelled
  • Dwindling
  • Scavenger angels
  • Tribe
  • Manic
  • Exulting
  • Wreckage
  • Nimbus-clouded
  • Litter
  • Decipher
  • Art
  • (Location in poem: Lines 4-5: “though some principle of being / abides”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Layers”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “The Layers” Speaker

• “The Layers” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “The Layers”

• More “The Layers” Resources

  • External Resources

    • The Poem Out Loud — Watch a video of Stanley Kunitz reading "The Layers."

    • Kunitz's Life and Work — Read a short biography of Stanley Kunitz, plus other Kunitz poems, at the Poetry Foundation.

    • Kunitz as Poet Laureate — Check out the Library of Congress's "Resource Guide" on former U.S. Poet Laureate Stanley Kunitz.

    • An Interview With the Poet — Watch an interview with Kunitz conducted by poet Gregory Orr.

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