If I Could Tell You

What power do humans have over life, death, and time? What power does time have over humans, life, and death? In W. H. Auden's "If I Could Tell You," time is depicted as humankind's most gruesome antagonist as it has knowledge and control over life and death that humans themselves do not. A villanelle about uncertainty and control, "If I Could Tell You" uses personification, repetition, and juxtaposition to reveal its themes.

"If I Could Tell You" At a Glance

"If I Could Tell You" by W. H. Auden

"If I Could Tell You" was written by British-American poet W. H. Auden (1907-1973) in 1940. This was towards the beginning of World War II, when the entire world watched as the tension mounted in both Europe and Asia. Although Auden was across the globe in the United States at the time, he was not immune to the repercussions and anxiety of war.

Auden was born in England in 1907. The soon of a well-to-do family, he attended college at Oxford and travelled throughout Europe and China for many years. In 1939, Auden moved to the United States to the dismay of many of his contemporaries. Already feeling the premonition of war with Hitler's rise in power and political aggression, those in England believed Auden fled the country to avoid World War II.

In reality, Auden is said to have fled to America to escape his identity as a left-wing writer. He even told the UK embassy that he would return to England if necessary. From the United States, Auden watched from across the sea as England was bombarded by German forces.

"If I Could Tell You" speaks to human uncertainty and limitations. Although it is not a straightforward condemnation on war, the uncertainty and anxiety of not knowing is characteristic of the attitudes held during World War II.

Fig. 1 - "If I Could Tell You" was written during the beginning of World War II, a time of great anxiety and uncertainty as reflected in the poem.

"If I Could Tell You" Poem

"If I Could Tell You" Summary

The poem begins with the speaker reflecting on the nature of time, which controls the present, past, and future. He stresses the impact time has over life and its mystery. He also repeats that there are so many things he himself doesn't know, such as the future, why things happen, and ultimately death.

The speaker positions himself in contrast to time: he would reveal the truth if only he knew it, while time is mysterious and will only gloat at the end with the words "I told you so." But at the end of the poem, the speaker questions even this idea that time is haughty and boastful, asking "Will Time say nothing but I told you so?" (18). He concludes the poem by answering the question with his own doubts: "If I could tell you I would let you know" (19).

"If I Could Tell You" Poem Analysis

A common analysis of W.H. Auden's poem "If I Could Tell You" is that it is a meditation on the nature of time, and the way that our experiences of time shape our lives and our relationships. The poem is written in variations of iambic pentameter and has a rhyme scheme of ABA until the last stanza which is ABAA. It is divided into three stanzas, each of which explores a different aspect of the speaker's experience.

"If I Could Tell You" is a strictly structured poem called a villanelle, also known as villanesque. The main literary devices, namely repetition, personification, and juxtaposition, can be found in the refrains which are characteristic of villanelles.

Repetition

Repetition is an inherent component of villanelles because of the use of refrains. As mentioned above, a combination of the lines "Time will say nothing but I told you so" (1) and "If I could tell you I would let you know" (3) appear in some way throughout each stanza of the poem. In fact, the repetition of those two lines alone comprise 8 out of the total 19 lines of the poem.

Why does the speaker choose to repeat these two lines? Most importantly, these two lines contain the major tension and themes of the poem. The speaker continuously states that he wants to know the answers to life and share them with "you," his fellow man. But time as an antagonist is unrevealing, arrogant, and mysterious. It won't reveal what it knows but will boast about its knowledge at the end of life, saying "I told you so." This reveals the major tension, where man struggles against uncertainty and time retains its secrets.

The repetition also shows the major themes in the poem. The speaker's insistence "If I could tell you I would let you know" (3) reveals the uncertainty inherent in human nature. And Time's upper hand position depicts the control time has over life and death.

Anaphora and juxtaposition

Repetition also occurs in the anaphora in the second stanza:

The anaphora of "if we should" isn't saying that the speaker and his audience ought to weep or stumble, rather the word "should" in this context refers to a possible event or situation that might happen in the future. This highlights the fact that humans don't know what will happen to them, nor do they have any control over it. These events may happen because time is in control, not them.

These lines also contain the juxtaposition in the poem, further deepening the divide between Time's power and humanity's powerlessness. Clowns, despite their creepy connotations today, were historically used as entertainment for children. They are humorous and joyful. This juxtaposed with the weeping highlights that time affects people mentally, changing what humans think they know and manipulating it into something else. Weeping at the clown show could also call to mind growing up and aging, no longer enjoying childish things. Either way, time is in control and manipulates things that are intended to be sources of joy into sources of emotional pain.

Fig. 2 - The juxtaposition of the clown and weeping shows the way time can manipulate people and the things they thought they knew.

Likewise, instead of dancing to the music, the speaker and the person he addresses may soon be stumbling. The juxtaposition between the musicians and stumbling shows how time effects people physically as they age. Instead of dancing in tune to the music, the stumbling depicts frail health and unsteadiness, congruent with old age.

Personification and idiom

As stated above, Time is the main antagonist of the poem. This is accomplished by capitalizing Time and using personification to make it a physical, active instigator:

Time knows much more than humans do, and it is in control of the past, present, and future. To further personify Time, Time is depicted as aloof and indifferent to human pain. Although it knows everything, it says nothing, forcing humans to flounder through life uncertain and afraid. Time is also needlessly arrogant, rubbing humans' limitations in their face with the phrase "I told you so" instead of offering any compassion or empathy when they die.

Personification allows the speaker to position Time as an active, all-knowing rival to humanity.

The phrase "the price we pay" is an idiom, meaning the emotional and physical difficulties humans endure as part of being alive. In this case, the price humans pay for life is ultimately death. The idiom thus hints that time alone controls when humans live and die.

Imagery and symbolism

The speaker uses imagery to depict both life and death and show how they are constantly connected. Interestingly, instead of starting with life imagery, the first imagery the speaker depicts is that of death:

He calls to mind autumn and the end of life, as leaves decay and wind blows over barren trees. And again, he subtly implies that humans have nothing to do with any of this death, saying "there must be reasons" (11). Time itself know why.

Fig. 3 - The speaker uses the imagery of decaying leaves to remind his audience of their own mortality.

Roses, lions, and soldiers are all powerful living things as well as symbolic images that depict the very best parts of life. Roses symbolize love and beauty, lions symbolize strength and justice, and soldiers symbolize courage and loyalty. But under the control of oppressive Time, these things are limited and kept from truly thriving. The roses want to grow but struggle to, the lions leave, and the soldiers abandon their posts as they run away. Even the brooks, which are life-sustaining sources of water and revival, feel the need to run.

Alliteration

All of the alliteration in the poem stresses action words, highlighting the desire that humans have for control over their own lives, even as that desire contrasts with their ultimate powerlessness over time. Consider the repetition of "P" in "price we have to pay," (2) the "W" in "we should weep when," (4) and the "R" in "roses really want" (13). There is an inherent tension between the active words, which give humans their sense of purpose and agency, and the ultimate insignificance of it all as humans will eventually succumb to death.

"If I Could Tell You" Meaning and Themes

The two main themes in the poem are contained in the competing refrains: the uncertainty of human nature and the control time has over life and death.

The uncertainty of human nature

The poem is entirely about uncertainty. Over and over, the speaker repeats "If I could tell you I would let you know" (3), but the truth is he can't say because he himself doesn't know. His uncertainty about life and death plagues him throughout the poem. In addition to his own ignorance, the speaker reveals that no human can know and comprehend the future because it is kept from them. He says, "There are no fortunes to be told" (7), meaning that attempting to predict the future is futile because uncertainty is a part of human nature. At the end of the poem, the speaker admits that he doesn't even know if Time will even say what he predicts it will. He says,

He is even uncertain about the one thing he adamantly said he was certain about throughout the poem. His own uncertainty plagues him, but he will never be able to escape it because of his limited experience as a human.

The control time has over life and death

On the other hand, time is depicted as the all-knowing, omnipotent controller of life and death. From the very first stanza, the speaker positions time as the only force that fully understands death: "Time only knows the price we have to pay" (2). And the reason Time knows the price humans pay is because Time controls life and death; it is the "reason" why leaves decay and some roses never get to grow. It is time, not people, who is in control and that drives the speaker crazy.