As i walked out one evening
Its only proper that i begin the blog by thanking A.k . ( for the uninitiated , when ppl in this hallowed institute are baffled about anything they either google it or ask A.K , infact i think if he could somehow make himself write down all his wisdom into a book , it ll be a bestseller and before this blog turns into an A.K fan mail let me get back to the topic) who introduced me to this brilliant poem written by W.H.Auden called "As i walked out one evening" , following are some unworthy thoughts of mine ....
( you can read the entire poem through second link given on the right column of the blog )
first of all the title ... " As i walked out one evening " . Eversince i was a child i had this typecast notion of a heading . " A heading should give an insight into what follows it " . Here , although the poet does not care , i mean what if i m browsing through a list of poems , i would probably ignore it and settle for "the recluse ". Who anyways wants to read about what happened to a silly poet ??
In headaches and in worry
Vaguely life leaks away,
And time will have his fancy
To-morrow or to-day.
i have not seen a more simple and clear message in my life . The first two lines establish the point that at times when u are immersed in a pointless dilemma of urs , life leakes away . It is indeed very important to act in a manner your heart prescribes. What is notable here is that poet did not resort to the use of can , could , may , might etc ( the weaker words ) , instead he states it as a matter of fact. Another important msg is in the last line ... even "the almighty time" does not have a control on yesterday so how could u??
" O plunge your hands in water
Plunge them up to the wrist;
Stare, stare in the basin
And wonder what you've missed."
The best thing about the aforesaid lines is the picture it paints , a clear vivid picture of helplessness . Think what if u dint have your hands , u cant do anything about anything .
i only wish one of my poems could have this clarity of thought and expression .
It was late, late in the evening
The lovers they were gone;
The clocks had ceased their chiming,
And the deep river ran on.
As if the poet suddenly woke up from his dream . He describes what he sees around him and the poem ends . A rather beautiful way of ending a poem .
( you can read the entire poem through second link given on the right column of the blog )
first of all the title ... " As i walked out one evening " . Eversince i was a child i had this typecast notion of a heading . " A heading should give an insight into what follows it " . Here , although the poet does not care , i mean what if i m browsing through a list of poems , i would probably ignore it and settle for "the recluse ". Who anyways wants to read about what happened to a silly poet ??
In headaches and in worry
Vaguely life leaks away,
And time will have his fancy
To-morrow or to-day.
i have not seen a more simple and clear message in my life . The first two lines establish the point that at times when u are immersed in a pointless dilemma of urs , life leakes away . It is indeed very important to act in a manner your heart prescribes. What is notable here is that poet did not resort to the use of can , could , may , might etc ( the weaker words ) , instead he states it as a matter of fact. Another important msg is in the last line ... even "the almighty time" does not have a control on yesterday so how could u??
" O plunge your hands in water
Plunge them up to the wrist;
Stare, stare in the basin
And wonder what you've missed."
The best thing about the aforesaid lines is the picture it paints , a clear vivid picture of helplessness . Think what if u dint have your hands , u cant do anything about anything .
i only wish one of my poems could have this clarity of thought and expression .
It was late, late in the evening
The lovers they were gone;
The clocks had ceased their chiming,
And the deep river ran on.
As if the poet suddenly woke up from his dream . He describes what he sees around him and the poem ends . A rather beautiful way of ending a poem .
posted by zack at
10:40 AM
2 Comments:
a pretty crisp analysis dude,the one thing u can add for the second stanza is how people in general create reasons to make their life miserable(ie.always looking at they hve lost instead of the opposite).these lines are very revealing of this reality.
u are absolutely right ... i m sure we do certain positive things in life ...but i guess the entire motive of the poem is to scare the shit out of us and make us realise that we indeed waste a lot of our time in "headaches and in worry" .
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