: Would someone give me your take on the above poem/ It is quoted in Wallace Stegner's Crossing to Safety (do not know how to underline here).
: Thanks for your help.
I was looking for the same. Actually I wanted to find the whole poem if there is more. Is the title the same? My interpretation is that this is about aging and eventually death. He is willing to part with the material things and even the physical, but what is important is "what I myself have held" which I think he is referring to his memories. "while the Customs slept" I'm not sure but maybe this is a referral to heaven's gates and having to enter just like you have to enter a new country. I wonder if wrote this poem in old age, because the comment, "for I am There" seems to refer to being towards the end of his life and having held on dearly to the important memories in his life...which of course ties this quote into the theme of this book. Would love to hear what you thought.