The Book of Thel

While Thel remains fearful of death, or at least the voice in her grave, at the end of the poem, the creatures she speaks to emphasize how death is a method for connecting lives and continuing the cycles of life. The Cloud says, “Every thing that lives / Lives not alone, nor for itself” (Lines 69-70). He explains that clouds live for others by dying and becoming one with dew, which feeds the flowers. The larger lesson for Thel is that death is a natural part of life. The Clod of Clay echoes Cloud’s lesson. She says, “we live not for ourselves” (Line 84). Even if one only becomes food for worms, as Thel fears, one has a role to play—a role that primarily benefits (feeds) someone (or something) else.

The two symbolic creatures respond to Thel’s human preoccupation with her individual “use” (Line 65) with lessons about communal and cyclical benefits. Thel’s concerns are not only about her use, or role, in life, but she also fears not leaving anything behind after she dies. She repeats “because I fade away” in Lines 64 and 98; “fad[ing]” refers to memory as well as physical appearance. Thel’s complaint is that people will not remember her if she is only worm food, if she leaves nothing living behind. Unlike the lesson about God’s love, Thel does not take the creatures’ lesson about interconnectedness to heart because her fear of death is related to her fear of the loss of innocence.