If we could get the hang of it entirely
It would take too long;
All we know is the splash of words in passing
and falling twigs of song,
And when we try to eavesdrop on the great
Presences it is rarely
That by a stroke of luck we can appropriate
Even a phrase entirely.If we could find our happiness entirely
In somebody else’s arms
We should not fear the spears of the spring nor the city’s
Yammering fire alarms
But, as it is, the spears each year go through
Our flesh and almost hourly
Bell or siren banishes the blue
Eyes of Love entirely.And if the world were black or white entirely
And all the charts were plain
Instead of a mad weir of tigerish waters,
A prism of delight and pain,
We might be surer where we wished to go
Or again we might be merely
Bored but in the brute reality there is no
Road that is right entirely.
-Louis MacNeice
(how does the speaker’s voice come off at once sounding both superficial and sublime? i like…)
2 Comments
I analyzed this poem for an IB English IV semester exam, all we had was the poem, year it was published, and the poet’s name. This poem had so much to write on, the diction, tome, philisophical leanings, using the year and the poet’s name to figure out what he was talking about – I wrote seven pages on this poem. Of all of the poems my teacher has given us to write about so far this year, this has been the best poem.
Heh, way back in high school I did my IB essay in English. Sadly, it seemed like too much English writing tends to be more about writing elegant b.s. that sounds sublime than about real content ;). At least, that was me.
What are your thoughts on the poem, though? (may I ask you to concentrate 7 paages into a paragraph?)