Figures of speech

Religion as a metaphor for certain kinds of scientific belief; science personified as a saint saying prayers on a rosary.  Science's desire to repeat tidy, uncomplicated truths is likened to saying prayers by rote, without thinking about what they really mean, like repeating prayers with rosary beads.  Ironic here, since the scientist would criticize orthodox religions for accepting supernatural explanations without question.  The speaker implies that this is what science is doing.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Figures of speech

Darkness as a metaphor for the spiritual unknown.  Science is portrayed historically as enlightening the darkness of superstition.  Waking up at night in "hell" and "staring at darkness" suggests being afraid of things one cannot understand or see through.  Since science here accepts simple, rigid answers for things, it is never troubled by these kinds of worry; in its room, the candle of enlightenment always shines bright.  It is never afraid of the dark.

Nonetheless, the continuation of this figure of speech suggests that science should be afraid.  The candle that lights up this darkness, unlike the electric light, sounds surprisingly unscientific.  And more importantly, the candle will soon burn out, especially because it is burning briskly.  The metaphor of  shedding light in darkness becomes ironized to suggest  the limits of enlightenment.  If the candle burning out is conventionally associated  with death, then the poet is  pointing to the darkness the scientist doesn't understand and maybe should care about after all: what will happen after death.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Figures of speech

Seashell as a metaphor for something that cannot be easily interpreted, whose meaning  lies beyond the reach of reason.  The roaring you hear when you put a seashell to your ear is said to be the sound of the sea; here the sea is described as one you can never get to, and the roaring is likened to questions that you can never answer.  Science thinks all it has to do is classify and measure things in nature (fish, stars, etc.).  Apparently an object amenable to scientific scrutiny (in for example the mathematically describable curve of its shape or through biological classification) the seashell is an object that keeps raising questions that science cannot answer.