Will Depth be depth, thick skin be thick, to one who can see no Beautiful element of unreason under it?
Cannot look into someone and see their inner beauty if they have thick skin and are guarded. Or to people things have different meanings based on the experiences one has had.
the name means thick
What means thick? Time?
hrough- Out childhood to the present time, the unity of Life and death has been expressed by the circumference Described by my Trunk
Similar to the lines "and history immeasurablyis/ wealthier by a single sweet day’s death" in [All Nearness Pauses] by E.E. Cummings.
tendril
OED: A slender thread-like organ or appendage of a plant (consisting of a modified stem, branch, flower-stalk, leaf, or part of a leaf), often growing in a spiral form, which stretches out and attaches itself to or twines round some other body so as to support the plant. (Distinguished from a twining stem by not bearing leaves.)
That tree trunk without Roots, accustomed to shout Its own thoughts to itself like a shell, maintained intact By who knows what strange pressure of the atmosphere
A tree without roots is being held up unexplainably by the universe. The tree shouts to itself it's ideas. Being personified. This tree has a hard exterior (bark) but keeps it's ideas to itself. Might be representing person who is guarded but has nothing tying him/her down as a result.
Trunk
Had elephant skin, and now a trunk. Is the speaker an elephant?
--Edit: Upon second reading I find that this trunk refers not to an elephant trunk but to the trunk of a tree. The circumference of a trunk grows with each passing year.
Black But beautiful, my back Is full of the history of power.
Most of the animals mentioned in this poem can come from Africa. Maybe this line is in reference to African history, and Africans.
peanut-tongued
What could this mean? Maybe someone being quiet because peanut butter is sticky in the mouth? Very odd phrase.
fibered over like the shell of The coco-nut,
Another tough exterior
elephant skin
Again referring to tough animal. Elephant skin is wrinkled, tough.
Patina of circumstance can but enrich what was There to begin With
Patina usually looked at as something to get rid of. Here it is enriching something. The weathering of circumstances or experiences makes person better than before.
Patina
OED: A thin coating or layer; spec. an incrustation on the surface of metal or stone, usually as a result of an extended period of weathering or burial; a green or bluish-green film produced naturally or artificially by oxidation on the surface of bronze and copper, consisting mainly of basic copper sulphate
I do these Things which I do, which please No one but myself
Not caring what people think, doing things to please self.
hippopotamus or the alligator
Both fierce creatures that live in water
Depth
Interesting that the word "depth" is in the last stanza in a long poem
Renaissance
OED: A revival of, or renewal of interest in, something; (also) the process by which this occurs.
“Black Earth”
What does black earth mean? Is the world dying, or is it the opposite meaning dirt which brings life?
The Inquisition was in the hands of its enemies.
Interesting last line. I think this is to be taken first literally, as the Spanish Inquisition was overtaken by the French, their enemies. However I think there is deeper context as the Spanish Inquisition is not specifically referred to. I think this is a broad allusion to all the persecutions of uniqueness and non-conformity, and a statement that being genuine and withholdings one's beliefs will prevail.
There was a discordant hum of human voices!
Could be the conflict between the Spanish and the French at Toledo.
I struggled no more, but the agony of my soul found vent in one loud, long, and final scream of despair
The Speaker has given up, there is no escape that he can manage now. His last utterance was to be a "scream of despair". Possibly involuntary as you know your fate.
yawning
OED The action of opening wide.
ague.
In reference to the OED definition, could this reference the constant changing of the cell as the fever also recurs periodically, so does the changing?