Answer:
I Rang the Bell
by
Edward Hirsch
I rang the bell
to the past
and the owner let me in
so I could climb
seven steps
and stand in the doorway
of a narrowness
that was once my room
on the second floor
of a split-level house
on the corner
of a suburban development
in the village
of my adolescence
and time bent me back
to that fitful night
when I tried to scale
the rusty stairs
of a freight train rolling
out of control in the yard
so I could set the brakes
and stop the runaway
dead in his tracks
but instead
I pulled a bookcase
down on my body
and woke up
startled
to find my parents
frightened in the hallway
and my books—
or was it my future?—
scattered on the floor.
The poem has a theme of regret.
The last three lines shows that while he failed to change the past and woke up in the present, he wasn't sure if his future was still certain.
Explanation:
From the poem, the boy went back to a period of sadness in his past to try and correct his mistakes.
This is evidenced here
"and time bent me back
to that fitful night
when I tried to scale
the rusty stairs
of a freight train rolling
out of control in the yard
so I could set the brakes
and stop the runaway
dead in his tracks "
Unfortunately for him, he is unable to change the past and he is filled with regret.
