What Are Years by Marianne Moore

What struck my interest about “What Are Years” by Marianne Moore is the doubt that comes from the poem. “What is our innocence, what is our guilt? All are naked, none is safe.” (Moore. 452) When I read these lines I feel that Moore depicts are birth when she says “we are all born naked.” We all are born naked. “None is safe,” could mean that we don’t know how our life will go. As we live our life we learn certain rules and guidelines that are supposed to make us socially accepted in ones culture. Moore is trying to challenge what is socially accepted by asking what is or innocence, what is our guilt? I also like the last three lines in stanza three because in a way it plays off the first stanza. “Though he is captive, his mighty signing says, satisfaction is a lowly thing, how pure a thing is joy. This is mortality, this is eternity.” (Moore. 452) What I get is Moore is saying that even if he is imprisoned, you can imprisoned your soul are your joy. By realizing the joy in your life your soul will have an eternity of happiness.

---Richard Liptak