ANON 4 SEPTEMBER 2017

Essay on Time
Time is universal and ineludible, effecting all humans. Kenneth Slessor’s
perspective of time is that it relentlessly flows. However he has a complicated relation
to time as he does not show a fear of it and its end, but rather has an animosity
towards the bittersweet consequences of time. ‘Out of Time’ skilfully explores the
perdurable nature of time, while the epic ‘Five Bells’ explores the ramifications of
time’s eternal flow, and in particular how perpetual time effects temporary humans.
Complimentary to this idea is the nonlinear film The Fountain, directed by Darren
Aronofsky (2006), which explores the infinite flow of time and how the end of life and
time living, is in fact the beginning of eternal time. This relation to time is taught
through the narrative of the protagonist Tom, and his dying wife Izzy, in their three
reincarnated lifetimes. Through the three lives the responder sees how Tom develops
his understanding of time and the ending of time through the acceptance of his wife’s
death; particularly through the analogy of death bringing birth to life in the star
Xibalba, symbolic of the Mayan underworld. The exploration of time through these
texts reveals the nature of time, the polarising consequences of time, and the
meaning of the end of time, and how these create a complicated relation to time.

The nature of time portrayed in Kenneth Slessor’s poetry is sempiternal. This

is explored through Kenneth Slessor’s triple sonnet ‘Out of Time’ where the character
describes “Time flowing like a hundred yachts.” The imagery created by this simile
builds the unabating movement of time through the poem. The ending of the poem
with a similar line, “And Time flows past them like a hundred yachts” transforms the
poem into one of a cyclic nature, furthering the eternal character of time. The use of
proper nouns in ‘Out of Time’ seen in “Time takes me…” personify time, while the
juxtaposing personifications of time in: “Time, the wave, enfolds me in its bed,” and
“Time, the bony knife, it runs me though.” creates a complex dichotomising
perspective of time, exploring how time can be both gentle and violent.
The nature of time in ‘The Fountain’ is similar to that of Kenneth Slessor’s ‘Out
of Time’ in its infinite character. The nonlinear format of the film portrays time as
constant but flexible in its features. This is seen through the repetition of the scene
where Tom refuses Izzy’s request to go outside during the first snow. After ‘future’

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Tom becomes enlightened by the understanding of death as the beginning of eternal

life, he relives the scene, and instead chooses to go outside with Izzy, changing the
past. This changing of a repeated scene reveals a complex perspective of time, as
the film suggests that although time is infinite and forever, it is also able to be
manipulated. Both ‘Out of Time’ and ‘The Fountain’ describe the nature of time to be
positively eternal and infinite, however both texts also explore the alternative
personas and abilities of time.

As time flows “like a hundred yatchs,” the living are left to deal with the
consequences of its wake. Slessor explores this in the memory of his friend in ‘Five
Bells,’ through rhetorical question: “Why do I think of you, dead man, why thieve
these profitless lodgings from the flukes of thought anchored in Time?” Although his
friend is no longer with him in the time of the living, the ‘flukes of thought’ still remain
with Slessor, accentuated through the alliteration of ‘l’ in ‘profitless lodgings’.
Perpetual time has made Slessor’s friends temporary in physicality, but eternal in
mentality through memories. This creates a complicated view of time as Slessor does
not necessarily fear the end of his own time, but is tormented by the end of other’s
time, as he is left behind to cope with their loss. Slessor shows the bittersweet beauty
of memories in ‘Out of Time’ through the alliteration of the ’s’ sound in “Fixed in a
sweet meniscus, out of Time… Lensed in a bubble’s ghostly camera.” This creates a
euphonious, ghostly description of a memory, and is strengthened by the positive
connotations of sweet. The contrasting effect of memories trapped in time is one that
increases the complicated understanding of time.
In the same way that Slessor faces torment from the death and end of time for
others, Tom suffers throughout the film about his wife’s impending death. This is
shown through the dark lighting in the beginning of the film, and is exemplified in the
scene where ‘future’ Tom is haunted by ghost-like memories of Izzy asking him to
come outside for the first snow. The powerful isolated diegetic of him screaming at
her to leave him alone, accompanied with the close up of his tortured expression,
highlights the anguish time has caused him, as he can only relive his time with his
wife through that regretful memory. Both composers show the effect of time to be one
of a predominantly negative nature, as it is relentless in its rhythm and continuity,
often leaving loved ones behind with only memories to quench the longing for their

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return. However, positively through memories they can still remember their loves,
captured in a “sweet meniscus,” creating a polarising relation to time.

In stanza three of ‘Out of Time’ the poem quotes; “…and I was part, Fleshless
and ageless, changeless and made free.” The denotations of ‘made free’ suggest
that in time, humans are trapped, and it is only when the chains of time are released,
that they are truely free. This embracing of the end of time creates an interesting
relation with time, because although it is suggested that without time a person
becomes truely free, the following line denies itself the opportunity: “ “Fool would you
leave this country?” cried my heart, But I was taken by the suck of the sea.” The
rhetorical question posed by the personified heart is denied by the character,
because even if a timeless life is a free life, it is one without the pleasures of
mortality. The intricate perspective that without time one may be free but lack mortal
pleasure, is created through Slessor’s introspective poetry.
Similar to Slessor’s sanguine view of the ending of time, The Fountain displays
death, and therefore the end of time for living, in a positive light. The bright yellow
light of Xibalba as it explodes creating new life, is an antithesis to the beginning of
the film where the lighting is dark and muted. The bright yellow has connotations of
happiness, positivity and enlightenment. This is also supported through the repetition
of the dialogue and extreme closeups of a Mayan priest saying “Death is the road to
awe.” Through these, Aronofsky perplexingly suggests that to flow alongside time,
one must die and instead ‘live’ eternally in death. Both texts embrace the end of time,
portraying it as something not to be afraid of, and in fact in ‘The Fountain’s’ case, to
instead look forward to it. This positive relation to time in juxtaposition to its negative
consequences creates a complex view of time.

Time is shown to be relentless and infinite in its nature through Slessor’s poems
‘Out of Time’ and ‘Five Bells,’ and Aronofsky’s film ‘The Fountain.’ However the effect
of time is what creates a complicated relation to time, as it is of a bittersweet nature.
The end of time in both texts illustrates that without time one cannot experience the
pleasures of mortality, but because of the temporary nature of life, the pleasure too is
temporary. This complex understanding of time allows the composers to evoke
responders to appreciate life and time while they can.

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