"The Task" is a poem of epic proportions that has been compared with the work composed of John Milton. The poem is a meditative one and is divided into six different books, each dealing with a different subject.
The first book is entitled "The Sofa" and in its introduction, the narrator claims that this poem was created when one of the author's friends challenged him to write a poem and using a sofa as the inspiration. The simple objects began a meditative process inside the narrator's mind on the true meaning of life. The narrator presents in the first part of this book the ideal image of family life, protected and idyllic. The image then changes slowly and as the narrator approaches the sofa, life becomes harder and new challenges appear.
The poem ends with death after a long and miserable existence. The narrator tries to warn the reader to avoid an attitude characterized by folly and to never forget that one day, he will die as well and everything he worked for will be lost forever.
The second book "The Timepiece" is similar to the first one in the sense it is also a meditation on life. This time, the narrator is isolated and alone, living in the middle of the wilderness. The reason for his isolation is soon revealed and is identified as the inability to accept the horrors which take place in the world on a day to day basis. The narrator is unable to accept them and as such has to live isolated.
The main idea transmitted through this second part is that those who are different and who care about the world around them will never find happiness. They will forever be cursed to be strangers in a world unable to understand them and to help them fit in. This perpetual suffering can end only in death, described here as a peaceful passing to a realm filled with happiness and joy.
The third book, "The Garden", is a meditation on the beauty and purity of nature. The natural wonders the narrator experiences while talking a walk are compared to the destruction humans caused. Nature is described as the only place when one person can truly find happiness and feel close to the Creator. Because of this, the narrator urges his readers to try and take notice of the world around them and to try and protect it as much as they can, living alongside it rather than trying to subdue it.
The last two books deal with the same subject, namely silence and its value. The action in both cases takes place in the middle of the winter when everyone is sitting inside their warm homes and the outside world presents herself to the onlooker in all its glory. This time is identified as being ideal for deep meditation since a person could spend hours upon hours thinking about the world and the meaning of life.
