Elegy For My Father's Father Flashcards
introduction
In this poem, the poet describes the death and life of his grandfather, an agrarian labourer, and laments the life he never lived. The poet tells the whole story of the tension between his grandfather’s inner life and the life he lived on the outside. The poem is framed in the Universal contexts of time and nature.
paragraphs
1) theme of expression
2) theme of youth and age
3) tension between inner life and outer life
4) connection with natural world transcends life never lived
5) elemental image of expression in end of poem
paragraph 1 on theme of expression
1) “he knew in the hour he dies that his heart had never spoken” - revelationary moment in death when he realises he has led an emotionally unfulfilled life. Ironic that it took his death to make him realise he had never properly lived. This is the central idea of the poem which becomes a refrain.
2) “his heart had never spoken in song or bridal bed” - song is an ancient metaphor for poetry. Bridal bed suggests both that he never showed his passion physically and also the lack of connection he had with his wife, revealing his isolation.
3) Perhaps in some way the structural regularity of the poem reinforces the idea of the steady inexpressive man that the poet perceived his grandfather to be. The poem is not written in an erratic impassioned manner but in stead seems carefully thought out which reflects how controlled and unimpulsive his grandfather was.
paragraph 2 on theme of youth and age
1) “tall tower broken” - tower is a symbol of power which represents his grandfather’s strength. However broken reveals how the grandeur of his father decreased, revealing the crippling effect of time and age.
2) “slice and build” - active strong verbs suggesting great physical strength
3) “tree on his walking shoulder” - epic image suggesting almost inhumane strength creates the impression of an almost god like man
4) “old and blind” - dramatic contrast between the images of strength and weakness. Sympathetic towards the grandfather, man defined by strength reduced.
5) “sat in a curved chair all day by the fire” - domestic image which is emasculating
paragraph 3 on tension between inner and outer life
1) “tree” and “sods” - agrarian images revealing he was an agricultural labourer. No particular glamour to his life.
2) “stars in their drunken dancing” - cosmic imagery is unexpected form him, showing he is more than the simple labourer. Not restricted by class and able to picture bigger things. Reveals great insight, revealing connection with nature. People may be mysterious to him but he understands and connects with nature.
3) “burning-glass of his mind” - burning is active and fiery suggesting that despite his unflinching facade he was a man of great passion and feeling. And glass is a reference to a magnifying glass showing how intent and focused his mind was, perhaps he felt things more keenly than others as everything was enlarged. Had feelings but never expressed them.
4) More beneath the surface and greater depth to each individual. Stresses the idea that it is not only the lives of the famous which can be celebrated.
paragraph 4 on connection with natural world transcends life never lived
1) “mourned him in their fashion” - qualifying phrase suggests that people mourning him were simply going through the motions, revealing how he had a weak connection with people.
HOWEVER
2) “the green boughs of heaven folding the winter world in their hand” - close to nature. Landscape he worked in was tough but he was able to see the beauty within it. The religious language he uses suggests he not only the wonder he felt towards the natural beauty of the landscape but also his reverence.
paragraph 5 on elemental image of expression in end of poem
1) “naked thought” - suggests exposure. In his last moment of vulnerability his thoughts return to his childhood home by the sea.
2) “the wind had shaken then for a child’s sake” - he is the child. Intimate relationship with nature as he acts for him.
3) “tongues of water spoke” - elemental image which again stresses connection. Able to communicate and understand nature
4) “dark mouths of the dead” - dark image is immediately frightening and disquieting.
5) “his heart was unafraid” - he does not fear the dark water as would most people. End of the poem is consoling as he is able to return to nature, the one place he always felt at home.
conclusion
The poem conveys the journey that the poet had taken in his relationship with his grandfather. As a younger man the poet resented his grandfather for his lack of articulacy. However as he grew older he began to understand the class and generational restrictions that his father was under which made it difficult for him to be sentimental, enabling him to feel sympathy and not just antipathy for his grandfather. Although the distance between the two men is my no means removed there is a sense of understanding and connection as the poet ensures that his grandfather’s emotions and feelings do not remain unexpressed, but find expression in the poem. This creates a sense of catharsis and creates the impression that his soul, as a result of the poet’s song of praise, is no longer ill at ease, but at peace in death.
