Octavio Paz: Between Going and Coming
Throughout Octavio Paz's life, his childhood, intellectual interests, and bilingual identity have shaped his worldview. He was a poet who articulated this view in his works, including the powerful poem "Between Going and Coming". In minimal words, this piece encapsulates the paradox of motion versus delay/pause in human existence, explaining why Paz writes and enters a liminal world while doing so.
The poem itself may seem very basic, but the speaker is not coming or going; he finds himself somewhere between the two. "The moment scatters. Motionless, I stay and go: I am a pause." It exists at a point of suspension: the moment when he is still, the very moment that will provide him with self-awareness. These moments constitute the essence of the poem; Paz argues that human experience is best understood through the interplay between motion and delay (or time). This philosophy holds that our individual lives have meaning only in the continuous moments of awareness we create during life's transitional or liminal phases.
Another notable aspect of "Between Going and Coming" is its representation of time. "The circular afternoon is now a bay where the world in stillness rocks." Throughout Paz's life, time is portrayed as linear, circular, and fragmented, depending on how each person views their experiences. With each passing second, people move forward; however, stillness remains within each person's thoughts.
A critical feature of this poem is the nearly erased line between our inner and outer realities. Paz does not provide an answer for these philosophies. He lets the reader sit with this thought. This openness adds to the poem's power. Rather than explaining its meaning, "Between Going and Coming" creates space for reflection. As readers, we find ourselves in this same in-between space, invited to think about our own moments of pause, those times when we are neither rushing toward the future nor holding onto the past but simply being. The poem resonates even more when we consider Paz's life. He experienced the migrations of countries, languages, and ideologies and understood the meaning of displacement. However, this implies that meaning is found not in movement but in awareness. Ultimately, "Between Going and Coming" reminds us that life's most profound truths often emerge in the pauses. In a world that values speed and progress, Paz offers a gentle yet radical idea: sometimes, understanding begins when we stop moving and notice where we already are.
The poem itself may seem very basic, but the speaker is not coming or going; he finds himself somewhere between the two. "The moment scatters. Motionless, I stay and go: I am a pause." It exists at a point of suspension: the moment when he is still, the very moment that will provide him with self-awareness. These moments constitute the essence of the poem; Paz argues that human experience is best understood through the interplay between motion and delay (or time). This philosophy holds that our individual lives have meaning only in the continuous moments of awareness we create during life's transitional or liminal phases.
Another notable aspect of "Between Going and Coming" is its representation of time. "The circular afternoon is now a bay where the world in stillness rocks." Throughout Paz's life, time is portrayed as linear, circular, and fragmented, depending on how each person views their experiences. With each passing second, people move forward; however, stillness remains within each person's thoughts.
A critical feature of this poem is the nearly erased line between our inner and outer realities. Paz does not provide an answer for these philosophies. He lets the reader sit with this thought. This openness adds to the poem's power. Rather than explaining its meaning, "Between Going and Coming" creates space for reflection. As readers, we find ourselves in this same in-between space, invited to think about our own moments of pause, those times when we are neither rushing toward the future nor holding onto the past but simply being. The poem resonates even more when we consider Paz's life. He experienced the migrations of countries, languages, and ideologies and understood the meaning of displacement. However, this implies that meaning is found not in movement but in awareness. Ultimately, "Between Going and Coming" reminds us that life's most profound truths often emerge in the pauses. In a world that values speed and progress, Paz offers a gentle yet radical idea: sometimes, understanding begins when we stop moving and notice where we already are.
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