Friend Flashcards
introduction
In this poem, the poet recalls his memories from a childhood immersed in nature,describing how he roamed part of a wild coastline with a friend and believed in a perfect, unstained world. This poem is framed in the universal contexts of man’s interaction with nature, time and loss. At the structural and emotional heart of the poem, the poet strikingly uses the image of a tree as a vehicle to convey the poet’s experience of disillusionment as his youthful dreams were lost and replaced by reality.
paragraphs
1) representation of nature
2) tree at structural heart of the poem
3) end of poem (letter)
paragraph 1 on representation of nature
1) “wild stretch of land” - untamed, rough version of nature which seems the antithesis of the pastoral (tame/cultivated/picturesque)
2) “lone tree” - image of isolation and exposure
3) “sharp-tongued” - malign nature eroding the landscape. Aggressive, almost personified.
4) “grey gull” - bland uninteresting dead landscape.
HOWEVER third stanza feels like a song/memory drifting in. Shift in voice emphasised by italics.
5) “roots of the mangrove yield no finer feast” - nature is plenteous and giving
6) “oyster…eels…sea-snails” - exotic, expensive creatures
7) “studded…silver” - creates the impression that these natural creatures are precious and almost jewel-like
8) Different representations of nature as benign and malign seem more subjective. Through his memory from childhood takes on a tone of reverence and wonder, whereas conversely the more malign depiction of nature comes from the cynical view of the aged poet.
paragraph 2 on tree at structural and emotional heart of the poem
1) “tree” - motif of the tree is repeated throughout the poem
2) “fort we built out of branches wrenched from the tree” - fort is a martial image which conveys the playful fighting, suggesting a male friendship. Tree is source showing how it fueled and shaped their friendship.
3) “food and drink to youthful dreams” - plenteous life source. Dream suggests a kind of fantastical naiveity conveying how the tree fueled their childhood innocence.
4) “no more” - the tree has come to represent the poet’s friendship and childish innocence. It’s death means that an integral part of the landscape is lost and in many ways an integral part of the poet as cold cynicism and harsh reality now pin down his mind.
5) “leaves made whistle” - image of insubstantially reinforces loss
paragraph 3 on end of poem (letter)
1) “Friend” - at the start of the poem the poet directly addressed the friend for whom the poem is entitled, saying “do you remember”. After recounting their memories together it seems fitting that the poem should come full circle, returning to the friend again at the end once the poet’s journey has been recounted.
2) “drear and dreamless time” - long vowels and alliteration of the heavy ‘d’ convey the monotony and dullness of his current existence. Dreamless is a clear reference to his loss of childish imagination and wonder or perhaps a shattering of his childhood hopes and fantasies. Ultimately reveal a disappointed and disillusioned poet.
3) “jewelled fantasy” - regal, precious images reflect the glitter and shine of his youthful dreams. Juxtaposition between his grey existence and colourful dreams.
4) childhood fantasies wore “splendid rags” - Inference that now he comprehends reality: fantasies are worn out and not fit for purpose. However framed in his childish view of them as “splendid”, suggesting magnificent and awe-inspiring. Oxymoron suggests that impossibility of his dreams in the reality he lives in.
5) “perhaps” - looking onto future using conditional to suggest uncertainty.
6) “tree will strike fresh roots again” - longing to return to his childhood which has become linked to his friendship. Image suggests regrowth and renewal, revealing the poet’s dissatisfaction with his life.
7) “hurt and troubled world” - last words of the poem are antithesis of peaceful creating a sense that the poet knows that this reunification he seeks is an impossibility. it was made for a pure, unmarred world.
conclusion
For me the overwhelming sentiment of this poem seems a tragic one, conveyed through the idea of an irrevocable loss of Innocence and friendship, framed in the death of a tree he remembers from his childhood. Throughout the poem there is a contrast between the voicing and language of the poet as a hopeful child and disillusioned adult. The poet looks back on his romanticised past, which cruelly contrasts with his dreary future. Although at the end of the poem the poet does propose the idea of a new revitalised future, his language of opposites suggests the impossibility of such a thing.
