Shine, Perishing Republic -- Robinson Jeffers

In many of Jeffers' poems, we see a reference to nature. In this one, Jeffers compares America to a rotting plant/fruit. He believes that America was going down, because it was becoming an empire, slowly but surely. Jeffers is a pessimist, as we see in so many of his poems, including this one. He does not want to associate himself with this nation that is going to fail and become compost for the world.