NOTES ON -FOR EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON

Detailed analysis
the poem

interpretation

For everything under heaven.

The opening two lines set the

context of the rest of the verses; the
belief that life's cycles have a hidden
pattern not immediately noticed; the
rest of the lines elaborate the
inexorable rhythms of life

A time to be born to laugh.

Birth and death, like planting and

harvesting, have a set time frame;
violence and peace also follow
regular cycles like destruction and
construction; it reflects the
emotional see-saws of life when
tears soon give way to laughter

A time to grieve quit searching.

The calm, assured voice of the

speaker relates another set of
opposing patterns of life in the next
verse; grief gives way to celebration,
trouble gives way to peace,
comradeship to isolation, questing
must stop after a while

A time to keep for peace.

The concluding verse reiterates the

impermanent nature of things;
cycles of human behaviour follow
each other, wave upon wave,
unchanging in its changing patterns