Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
Lines 65-66
and nothing quite so least as truth
—i say though hate were why men breathe—
- This first line seems to be getting at the idea that the world is full of lies by implying that the truth is a small thing.
- The next bit seems just as much of a downer, saying that the only reason humanity even exists is to hate.
- Speaker, dude—you're bumming us out. We hope the end of this poem brightens up a bit.
Lines 67-68
because my Father lived his soul
love is the whole and more than all
- Oh, sweet. Well, this is nicer.
- The speaker sums up the point of the poem in these last lines. By saying that his "Father lived his soul," he seems to mean that his dad really lived the dickens out of his life.
- The "dooms of love" (1), the "griefs of joy" (18)—this guy dealt with it all, and the whole time he struggled to fight the nasty "disease of same" (59).
- Ultimately, the speaker tells us that "love is the whole and more than all," which we take to mean that love is the thing that binds us all together.
- Since it's this awesome binding force uniting everything, it's got to be bigger than all of us, right?