Analysis of Nina Cassian's Fable Considering that the extent of my poetic appreciation lies in a decided distaste for Dante and a taste for limericks concerning Nantucket - it behooves me to discuss a poem that my limited abilities can grasp. Fable by Nina Cassian is precisely one of these poems. I see this piece as Cassian's perspective on life (a "sentence" or obligation), death, and, sadly, the fact that most people don't appreciate the wonderful nature of existence. I consider the first verse as a representation of man's life. earthly plane as a kind of testing ground for "angels" - a place where beings are concerned with the development of the spirit, "to master imbalance". I interpret the second and third stanzas as the transformation of the ethereal spirit into a corporeal state. The "angel fell" and thus left spiritual beauty in search of purity. The angel's descent is clearly painful: "...feathers charred, his single wing helpless, dangling." Even if the cost of bodily existence is expensive, I believe that Cassian considers it an obligation to be respected, a "sentence". The last sentence is the saddest. The nature of this newly formed being is categorized in a mundane way. The "people" fail to see its purpose and intrinsic beauty; by extension, they have lost their mission, their true value. They have forgotten God. The second poem was written by a surprisingly bright student at New York University who was hoping to receive an "A" in an introductory literature course taught by a charming (and underpaid) professor. 12/2/97 is the date this author spent about six minutes dead. He had graduated in theology and had developed a healthy skepticism towards all religions. The author had laughed at so-called "near-death experiences", believing them to be the fruit of fantasy or resulting from a chemical secretion of the frontal lobe in times of catastrophic suffering. This former business plunderer, this glorified "hustler" discovered upon his demise because as a "people" of Favola he had lost his way, his appreciation, his God.