English Assignment

"Out of Time" represents the cruel harshness of "Time" likened to a bony knife which "runs me through". One can either flow with it like water, or go against it and possiblysuffer as though run through with a knife. Although there is nothing overtly Australian about the descriptions and metaphors employed by Slessor, nevertheless, there is a strong, indeed almost overpowering, Australian sensibility in the manner in which the verses in the poem (viz., "Waters", "Stars", and "Out of Time") relate notions of optimism on the one hand, and unfulfilled desires and goals, on the other; a sensibility with which are immediately identified on first reading Slessors’ poems. This poem is about struggling with time.