Unseen Commentary on 'The Secret Life of Books' by Stephen Edgar, from Corrupted Treasures, (1995)

The title 'The Secret Life of Books' personifies books. Not only do they have 'life' but it is secret. This tells us that humans are ignorant towards books, that we don't really look into them, that we don't appreciate them and that in a way books know more than us. The first stanza already brings up the main theme of the poem, the power books posses. Edgar tells us that they have 'stratagems' and plans, …

…being intruded by books. When we "come to think, to tell, to do" we are "caught between quotation marks". So much of our knowledge comes from books that when we go to say something we actually repeat what the book told us, we are "caught between quotation marks". Books are so important and powerful that they tell us what to say, and if it wasn't for them we wouldn't have much to say at all.