The Colossus
The poet uses strong historical images to display the narrator’s defeated feeling as he realizes that his life’s work will never be complete. The narrator begins the poem by clearly stating that, “I shall never get you put together entirely.” At this point, the narrator has completely resigned himself to working on finishing the Colossus, despite the apparent hopelessness. The allusions to the Roman history further show that he has been trying to construct this being for the majority of his life. He is trapped in his current world, as he doesn’t know life unrelated to this construction. Stars and sunrises have only been viewed from his position at the site. His resignation is confirmed with the simple ending lines, “No longer do I listen for the scrape of a keel on the blank stones of the landing.”