This is ironic, given that men of science are hardly thought to be the most socially adept individuals, and Nathan's ability to understand human nature is frequently revealed to be faulty. Nathan does not understand the emotional truths of human nature, and is not in touch with his gut, natural instincts even though he sees himself as an expert. Understanding something on an intellectual level does not necessarily mean that someone understands something on an emotional level, and in many ways the man that Nathan tries to civilize is more innately human than Nathan, even though Nathan considers himself a teacher. Spencer Reece: The Clerk's Tale -"Then" (12-13)

The poem entitled "Then" is a backward-looking poem, set when the poet was unsure about his calling in life. The speaker is housesitting at a home of an evidently much more wealthy individual. He says he is a professional...

The house of the poem's setting was built a long time ago, is creaky and large, and the history of the place is full of the richness of the American past -- "Indians camped there" -- even though now the fields are treated with pesticides and the farms have been abandoned because the farmers are being paid by the government not to grow crops. The title of the poem suggests a contrast between past and present, or now and then. Evidently, the poet's life has changed a great deal since this period, which he does not seem to regard very fondly or as full of creative ferment (like the dead fields that surround the house). The life of the people who must have originally lived in the house has changed and now the world is stagnant, much as the poet's life during this period of time, back 'then' was stagnant.