How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #4
Have faith then in me, faith soothes, guides, heals. Come, all you – even the little children – let me console you, may a heart go out to you – the marvellous heart! – Poor men, workers! I don't ask for prayer; with your trust alone, I'll be happy. (81)
Here the speaker seems to be cozying up to the poor and working class. He's rejecting religion in favor of the trust of those who dwell in society's economic basement. Is he genuinely attached to these folks, though? Or is he just pretending to be down with them so that he can seem like more of an outsider?
Quote #5
Never show me gems, I'd crawl on the carpet and writhe. My treasure, I'd like to be stained all over with blood. I'll never work. (99)
OK, then, speaker. Instead of a big, fat paycheck, we've got you this bucket of blood to pour all over yourself. Go to town, pal. Here the speaker is rejecting the trappings of wealth in favor of bodily sacrifice. Work is just a distraction for him. He wants his efforts to really count for, and cost him, something. We wonder how all his poor and working buddies might have felt about this idea.
Quote #6
Once upon a time did I not have a pleasant childhood, heroic, fabulous, to be written on leaves of gold – too fortunate! (269)
A-ha. Here we get another glimpse into the speaker's past privilege. It seems that he's rejecting that middle-to upper-class upbringing to become a social drop-out. He's turning his back on convention, wealth, and status—so there.