(THE TRULY GREAT)

BY STEPHEN SPENDER
STEPHEN SPENDER
 Sir Stephen Harold Spender was born on February 28, 1909,
in London. He attended Oxford University and fought in the
Spanish Civil War.
 His early poetry was often inspired by social protest. Social
injustice, and struggles in work.
 Spender was professor of English at University College,
London, from 1970 to 1977, and gave frequent lecture tours
in the United States. He was knighted in 1983. Spender died
on July 16, 1995.
1ST STANZA:
I think continually of those who were truly great.
Who, from the womb, remembered the soul's history
Through corridors of light where the hours are suns
Endless and singing. Whose lovely ambition
Was that their lips, still touched with fire,
Should tell of the Spirit clothed from head to foot in song.
And who hoarded from the Spring branches
The desires falling across their bodies like blossoms.
 The poem starts out sounding like an homage to great
people in history. As the first stanza develops,
however, the speaker seems to be saying more about
how greatness is born to the connection between
generations and the connection between humanity
and nature.
 In the first stanza, the speaker describes the soul's
history emerging from the light and song of the sun. Here, the sun
is also described in terms of time (which could indicate the
measurement of days by the sunrise). The sun as a source of life is
also indicated as that which gives rise to the blossom of the
branches and the blossom of desire.
Here, a physical urge to grow (blossom of
branches) is compared to a spiritual or humanistic urge (desire to
tell the soul's history: something profound).
 And the sun is the light and song (source) of
this desire/urge to blossom/tell:
Whose lovely ambition
Was that their lips, still touched with fire,
Should tell of the Spirit still clothed from
head to foot in song.
 The great ones understand the soul’s history, meaning
they understand the past. They have a significant (maybe
even spiritual) connection to human history and world
history.

 The “endless and singing” “corridors of light” represent

the perpetual enlightenment that is always available for
human potential. The energy of the world and the
universe runs through that greatness. Everything is
connected.
2ND STANZA:

What is precious is never to forget

The essential delight of the blood drawn from ageless springs
Breaking through rocks in worlds before our earth.
Never to deny its pleasure in the morning simple light
Nor its grave evening demand for love.
Never to allow gradually the traffic to smother
With noise and fog the flowering of the spirit.
 In the second stanza, the speaker continues with
natural imagery to describe the history of the soul, or
the history of human culture.

There is a history of great thinkers/thoughts from

which inspiration and ideas can be drawn - as water is
drawn from "ageless springs.“
 The idea is that there will always be water
coming up from the ground and, in human culture and
history, there will always be a history of (sometimes
embedded) great ideas waiting to be observed or dug
out.
3RD STANZA:
Near the snow, near the sun, in the highest fields
See how these names are fêted by the waving grass
And by the streamers of white cloud
And whispers of wind in the listening sky.
The names of those who in their lives fought for life
Who wore at their hearts the fire's center.
Born of the sun they traveled a short while towards the sun,
And left the vivid air signed with their honor.
EXPLANATION:
 In the last stanza, the impact of the great thinkers is not
described in terms of books, words, or even personal histories.
It is described abstractly, with the imagery of nature and a hint
of spirituality using the light and energy of the sun as a conduit.
The "vivid air is signed with their honor."
EXPLANATION:
 The great ideas of history are a part of the world in culture and
books but also as part of a humanity's soul/history; so the
speaker describes these ideas as imprints on the air, which
implies a physical (talking about these ideas, passing them on)
imprint and a vague spiritual one (ideas imprinting the air).
 “I Think Continually of Those Who Were Truly Great” is
written in free verse with three stanzas containing
eight, seven, and eight lines, respectively.
 While the poem settles into no regular meter, line
length, or rhyme scheme, it is, nonetheless, highly
musical with its syncopated rhythms and sharp
images.
The main theme of the poem centers on the necessity of
remembering, celebrating, and cherishing the "truly great"
among us.
The narrator doesn't specifically state who these "truly
great" people are, but they might be famous writers and
poets the narrator knows.
 The main thought of the poem is to commemorate and to
show appreciation to the great people who had a great
contribution in the world’s history.

 It tells about the story of their lives, to how their actions

made them heroes, until they “left the vivid air signed with
their honour”
 The narrator praises these "truly great" individuals
with highly laudatory words. During his life, Stephen
Spender was infatuated with the idea of fame and
greatness.

 He yearned for success and dreamed about it; as a

rule, he thoroughly enjoyed being surrounded by
successful writers, authors, and poets. It's no surprise,
then, that he lavishes high praise on the "truly great."