341 - After great pain, a formal feeling comes...
After great pain, a formal feeling comes -
The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs - The stiff Heart questions was it He, that bore, And Yesterday, or Centuries before? The Feet, mechanical, go round - Of Ground, or Air, or Ought - A Wooden way Regardless grown, A Quartz contentment, like a stone - This is the Hour of Lead - Remembered, if outlived, As Freezing persons, recollect the Snow - First - Chill - then Stupor - then the letting go - AnalysisOn first outlook this poem is about death, this is presented by the vocabulary used such as “pain” and “tombs”. The first line suggests that the persona has recently gone through a death and is describing how this death has affected her. “After great pain a formal feeling comes-” the word pain literally means the hurtful emotion that comes from a death. By then describing the next feeling as “formal” implies that the persona feels emotions should not be shown in public, as in order to conform or look normal in their society they must be reserved. The word “formal” could also suggest that the persona is putting up an artificial front, t6his being that they only display their true emotions when alone not in public.
The next line portrays the persona to be cold and emotionless as it describes their “Nerves” to be like “Tombs” which are heavy and cold, this also implies that their nerves hold memories of their dead loved one, just like a tomb stone does. But as memories are unable to resurrect the dead one, they become useless and therefore the persona does not use them, which shows them to be emotionless.”The stiff Heart” and “The Nerves” are both capitalised, this emphasises that these are both body parts, which implies that grief is affecting her physically as well as mentally. The following line also goes on to say that “The stiff Heart” questions was it He” the He is capitalised just as in the bible, where a capitalised He means God. This shows that this persona who has a “Stiff Heart”- which gives imagery of a heart which is under pressure as it is too “stiff” to pump blood showing a rise of anger- is beginning to blame god for the death. |
The next stanza then goes away from the idea that it was Gods doing, and begins to reason that it’s just the way of life. As the first line says “The Feet, Mechanical, go round” this line gives a contradictory image of the natural, biological image of feet compared to the cold, manmade image of the mechanical object. This suggests that even thought the persona accepts that death is the way of life, it is still not natural and is in some way man made. This could link back to the religious teaching that it was Adam and Eve who where that cause of death.
The last line of the stanza also gives a contrasting image of a “Quartz” and a “stone”, the quartz is a precious stone and the poem also describes it as content this is then compared with a valueless stone. This suggests the persona is saying that even if you’re content with your life it can be snatched away from you. Death is inevitable and unpredictable. The last stanza is like a reflection of the death. The last two stanzas have questioned who and why death happens, and the last stanza goes back to talking about feelings that stem from a death. By having “this is” as the first words shows this is the personas present feelings. The first line then goes on to say “The Hour of Lead” By saying “Hour” instead of a longer period of time shows that these condensed feelings will pass. Also describing it to a poisonous substance like “Lead” implies these are dangerous times to be in, and could leave mental and physical scars. Describing the hour to lead could also mean that this is a heavy, cold period which is like a weight on your mind which limits your thinking or physically paralyses you. The following line suggests that the dead will always be remembered. This leads on to the next line which says “As Freezing persons, Recollect the snow” the word “Freezing” suggests grief and the “snow” which is the source/cause of the “Freezing” suggests death. The last line shows the stages of grieving. It starts with the “chill” implying a realisation of the death and a cold sensation in the mind. “then stupor” suggesting the physical and mental paralysing. “then the letting go-” which shows that the grief will pass in time. The dash at the end of the line implies that these emotions will still carry on throughout your life. |