A Man I Am

I was consumed by so much hate

I did not feel that I could wait

I could not wait for long at any rate

I ran into the forest wild

I seized a little new born child

I tore his throat, I licked my fang

Just like a wolf. A wolf I am.

I ran wild for centuries

Beneath the immemorial trees,

Sometimes I thought my heart would freeze

And never know a moments ease,

But presently the spring broke in

Upon the Pastures of my sin,

My poor heart bled like anything,

The drops fell down, I knew remorse,

I tasted that primordial curse,

And falling ill, I soon grew worse.

Until at last I cried on Him,

Before who angel faces dim,

To take the burden of my sin

And break my head beneath his wing.

Upon the silt of death I swam

And as I wept my joy began

Just like a man. A man I am.

At first glance, the poem seems to be about a cold blooded man who committed a murder. He knew no guilt, remorse or regret at first, but as the years pass, his conscience catches up with him. He starts feeling guilty, remorseful, until someone or something relieved him of these feelings of guilt. Only then, was he able to feel joy and happiness.

More deeply it talks about the things that mankind had committed.

What the poet is trying to say through her poem is that mankind started off really bad. We started off with violence and death. We killed off innocence lives for the benefit of ourselves. We knew no remorse, no guilt, we had not conscience. We’re basically like animals (Wolf); we follow our aggressive, merciless, impulsive and impatient nature.
But, then, we started to progress. We grew a conscience, we learned about remorse and guilt. But, the progress is slow; it’s surprising that we even progressed at all. 

Paula Scotti - Paulo Ojeda