"The sunlight on the garden
Hardens and grows cold,
We cannot cage the minute
Within its nets of gold,
When all is told
We cannot beg for pardon."
No matter how many days we thinks we have, how many memories, photographs and videos we make to capture a moment, time has each of us a sentence, a sentence we can not defy. Life goes forward, even when we do not. I think MacNeice starts this poem feeling mad, or afraid of death, and slowly moves forward to accept that it's going to happen to everyone.
To the narrator is seems as if dying, is taking away his freedom,
"Our freedom as free lances
Advances towards its end; "
He seems to be envious of the natural life around him because he won't be around forever to enjoy these small things. All good things come to an end in when their time catches up to them.
"The earth compels, upon it
Sonnets and birds descend;
And soon, my friend,
We shall have no time for dances."
The life surrounding us all continues, even when we don't, and I think that is a big concept the narrator is working with in these lines. Acceptance of dying. These two lines "and soon..for dances" play a central role in this interpretation because for a second the poem takes away your breath, and reminds you that you yourself will cease to exist one day too. It's very dramatic.
Further down the poem he makes a reference to Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, which ensues even more drama.
" We are dying, Egypt, dying."
(Antony said I am dying, Egypt, dying, but you get the point).
I think that MacNeice wanted to show you just how intense this poem was for him to write by bringing in the good ole' theater from Shakespeare - once again showing how heavy and real dying is.
MacNeice then follows this intensity by bringing you back down to the realization that even though death is there, it is not here yet. There is optimism in this last stanza that relaxes you back into the comfort of today, reminding you that dying is there, but we still have today to relax. Death is inevitable, and what you make of dying is what really matters with this work. It can be peaceful, or dramatic and scary, it can't be avoided, but it can be made the best of. 
Thunder and rain with you,
And grateful too
For sunlight on the garden."
I definitely agree with your reading on this poem. Line 12 emphasizes the seriousness of death, and as you mentioned the last line of the third stanza is climatic.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to other garden poems, this poem might even be related to love as well. Its funny how these two subjects are so often interlocked. When I read the poem this way, line two "hardens and grows cold" made me think of how heartbreak can lead someone to become bitter and lose hope in love. Moreover, "When all is told" could be interpreted as someone's devastating confession to their lover, and it may be the reason why the speaker's heart turned cold. As the poem progresses, and includes "church bells" I would assume the two were close to getting married and setting games aside, "no time for dances." Similar to your reading, I would agree that the poem shows the reader has found peace with what has happened, whether that is death or love loss. Through good and bad times, "thunder and rain," the speaker is at peace.
Ultimately, I guess the sunlight on the garden can best be defined as a force of life, whether that is love or life itself. After all, the sun is what allows the garden to grow.