Critical Analysis of the Poem "On Buying and Selling"
“And a merchant said, Speak to us of Buying and Selling. And he answered and said: To you the earth yields her fruit…” The poem begins in a conversational tone, almost like a dialogue from a play. The merchant’s request sets the theme, and the response immediately elevates some mundane activity to near-sacred. The earth is personified as generous, suggesting that abundance is natural- if only we know how to use it ethically and responsibly. “It is in exchanging the gifts of the earth that you shall find abundance… Yet unless the exchange be in love and kindly justice, it will but lead some to greed and others to hunger.” Here, the poet introduces his central moral argument: trade is not inherently wrong, but it must be fair in nature. The contrast between “abundance” and “hunger” shows how the same system can uplift or exploit, depending on intent. The poet uses a cautionary tone in this part of the poem. “When in the market place you toilers… meet ...
