Move him into the sun—
Gently its touch awoke him once,
At home, whispering of fields half-sown.
Always it woke him, even in France,
Until this morning and this snow.
If anything might rouse him now
The kind old sun will know.
Think how it wakes the seeds,—`Woke, once, the clays of a cold star.
Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides,
Full-nerved—still warm—too hard to stir?
Was it for this the clay grew tall?
—O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
To break earth’s sleep at all?
Given that the word futility means pointlessness explain the relevance of the title to the poem.
What do you think is the most significant phrase in the poem?
If you had to choose a maximum of three words to represent the meaning / feeling of the poem what would they be? Try to briefly explain your choice.
