Analysis “On Being Human” Essay

C.S. Lewis gets orderly to the point in his first lines, particularly with the first two words angelic minds. Readers will discern immediately that Lewis is going to discuss the imagination of experience from the facial expressionpoint of supernatural non- benevolent beings such as angels. Readers whitethorn in any case guess, by comparing this idea to the poems title On Being Human, that he intends to go on to compare this idea with our experience of the world from the implied lowliness of universes perspective.Students may wonder where the latter implication pay offs from, and in this, at the beginning of the poem at least, C.S. Lewis is no help at altogether in referring to a mysterious they who apparently hold that angels mathematical function lore activity alone to comprehend the forms of spirit, not needing the added senses enjoyed by more sensate forgivingkind. nearly subscribers may be reminded here of the fierce battles between the angels and demons of Milton or the arrows of liking of Blake. Indeed the nature of love and its forms was thoroughly explored and analysed elsewhere in the quad Loves by C.S. Lewis himself. As he outlines his argument in the next a couple of(prenominal) lines, readers are left wondering which way Lewis is going to go with this.They may wonder which dimension of experience the poet will say is crush intelligence or sensory experience? Here, the idea of an enigma or astound gives the poem drive and suspense as students read on to figure out what happens next. Initially C.S. Lewis presents, and continues to develop, the theory that those with purely spiritual, non imbruted minds can unerringly discern crucial timeless truths, the verities, through intelligence alone, without recourse to the louvre senses. Humans either lack knowledge of these truths or have come to learn them indirectly through the implied less satisfactory means of sensual experience. Truths of nature seem to be given particular weight by Lewis here as he tells readers of earthness and stoneness that can be perceived by angels from their clear uncluttered viewpoint uncluttered by the supposed wanting(p) extraneous baggage of mortal sensate feelings and experiences.Both in Lewiss use of the word unvarying and in his use of the word unerringly in the opening lines, some readers may pick up echoes of the Roman Catholic belief in the infallibility of the Pope and the unwavering adherence to precept of the Roman Catholic church even in the face of calls for repose and modernisation by common popular dissent. This serves to reinforce the notion of the central nature of ancient truths. Being human, Lewis seems to ponder, may result in a clouding of the vision of fundamental principles by a veil or a muddled fog of distracting sensual experiences. It is at this point that the reader may perceive a divergence in Lewiss view with that of the poets, theologians and philosophers of the they in his initial lines. In hi s list of the appreciation of the notion of being, of existence, being human is left outThe angels appear to understand the scientific principles of the peach of nature, the properties of a tree for example, or the evaporatory properties of the sea, but their achievements in the field of mind human existence are not mentioned. C.S. Lewis then sketches, with exquisite delicacy, the human experience of the blissful coolness of shade as relief from the intumesce unrelenting glare of the sun and, next, the severance of sun from shadow where the trees begin. This use of the word severance also serves to mark the point where Lewis breaks faith temporarily with the they of the first lines as he introduces humor, remarking that an angel has no skin and wherefore (presumably) no conduit for the sense of touch.Then follows a series of ravishing images, dexterously painted by Lewis, of the drinking-in of experiences of natures loveliness such as the sweetness of a peach basking in the wa rmth of a sunstruck wall or the delightfully natural fragrances of the countryside. Here Lewis picks up again the comical atmosphere that underlies the conversational narrative style of the poem, adding that angels are uneffective to appreciate the delights of the fragrance of the field, new mown hay, the sea smells and the therapeutic infuriate of wood smoke. With humor he bluntly posits that an angel has no poundThe poet then appears to struggle between two possibilities firstly that angels get the best deal as they are not burdened with the five confuse senses. Conversely, he wonders whether humans are the better off of the two beings. later all, they are guarded from the shock of perceiving the whole of existence the heavens at once, because mankinds distracting senses obscure the truth of it.Crucially, in terms of understanding Lewiss own opinion on the subject, the poet draws attention to the way in which God himself may want us to have one comminuted area of our person alities devoted to appreciating the environment through our senses. Perhaps in so doing we are the better able to comprehend the sheer scale of the wonders of nature and sense that He has provided for our happiness. The angels with their cold intelligence may be uneffective to profoundly appreciate, thank and love God to the full. Indeed, some lines from the Roman Catholic church service, The Mass, may spring to mind when reflecting upon the benefits this being human has in our relationship with God the lines refer to a Christ who broken in himself to share in our humanity. As Lewis puts it, we share a privacy that is forever and a day ours, not theirs.