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The use of metaphor to shape the irregular rhythms of perception is also a feature of the following poem:

IMAGINATION AND REASON

Imagination does not
Care for reason.

Reason does not
Care for imagination.

The poet in me cries
For imagination-wings.

The philosopher in me cries
For reason-sword. [31]

The poet's two quasi-axiomatic opening statements testify to the mutual incompatibility of reason and imagination. There is a subtle hint of personification in the use of the verb "does not care for," which suggests that it is through choice that reason and imagination remain aloof from each other. In the third and fourth stanzas, the poet reveals that he is not concerned to establish the inherent superiority of either one or the other. He encompasses them both easily, defying the contract of an unhappy marriage by allowing both imagination and reason complete self-sufficiency in their specified roles. The wings of imagination are the means by which the poet is borne aloft into that visionary realm beyond the finite dimensions of the mind. The keen-edged sword of reason is the cutting edge of the mind, the tool by which he may conceptualise the great issues of philosophy. Although imagination and reason declare their independence, the poet needs both of them in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the meaning of existence.