In Maxims I-A there is an interesting dichotomy of “life, free will” as “loans” from God and the idea that “all mortals must meet their fate” (171). Both free will and predestination are held up beside each other as doctrines of equal merit and import.
In Maxims I-B the predetermined is again picked up: “Frost must freeze, fire melt wood,” big wheel keep on turning. The future is indomitable, implacable, unavoidable, unalterable, inevitable. Yet in reciting these lines the poet seems to gain solace. Yes frost must freeze and fire melt wood, but also the earth bears fruit, water will melt, and kind weather will come again (177).
We see then, in Maxims I-C, in the face of a determined future, the “day for action is always today” (187). Don’t worry about the future because the future will be the future. One can only act in the present.
Maxims II takes an interesting form. Everything “must” do as it must. Heroes and maidens, monsters and fish. In the midst of the “musting” are four lines, two couplets: “Christ’s power is great; / Strongest is Fate” and “Heaven is God’s house / Who judges us” (218, 219). Interjections reminding the reader of God’s sovereignty over all that “must” happen. And then the final meditation:
“Where do souls go? The Lord alone
Knows the destination
Of those who die and go to God,
Awaiting judgement’s final word.
Of God’s creation none can tell,
Where the conquering heroes dwell,
And God dwells too. No man comes back
To tell us here what Heaven’s like.” (221)
A reminder of how little man knows, finding solace in the all-knowing God.