Song Meaning

The lyrics paint a picture of a powerful, almost elemental feminine presence who possesses everything in nature, from the grandest skies to the smallest creatures. This ownership is presented with a strange mix of reverence and unease, as the narrator notes it's "not exactly hymns but hers." The imagery is rich and slightly unsettling, with "beasts with spurs" and "reluctant worms," suggesting a nature that is both beautiful and perhaps a little wild or even menacing under her dominion. The narrator seems to be observing this pervasive control from a distance, acknowledging its completeness. The central tension arises from the narrator's anticipation of a future reckoning, specifically the moment of death. The repeated question, "When the time comes to die... Will we believe the truth in it?" reveals a deep uncertainty about mortality and the ultimate meaning of life under this all-encompassing ownership. There's a sense that the truth of existence might be obscured or altered by this powerful feminine force, leaving the narrator questioning what will be left when life, and perhaps this dominion, ends. The contrast between the natural world's order and the narrator's existential dread is palpable. The most striking craft element is the persistent assertion of possession: "All the trees are hers." This refrain, coupled with the catalog of natural elements that follow, creates a powerful, almost suffocating sense of ownership. The lyrics then pivot to a more hopeful, albeit conditional, future where "who we were" might return, and the narrator "will certainly trust her." This trust seems tied to the natural cycles of growth and decay, as seen in the "rhubarb burst" and the idea that "what is fallow now / Will come to deserve / Poetry's most lovely words." The transformation of the natural world, even its "worst" aspects, into something that satisfies her needs, highlights a profound, almost divine, creative or controlling power. This writing is effective because it grounds abstract existential questions in concrete, vivid natural imagery. The narrator's passive observation of this all-encompassing feminine power, juxtaposed with their own anxieties about death and truth, creates a compelling emotional landscape. The lyrics don't offer easy answers but instead evoke a feeling of awe mixed with apprehension, leaving the listener to ponder the nature of control, existence, and the ultimate truths that lie beyond our grasp, perhaps even beyond the ownership of "hers."