Stabat Mater

Stabat Mater

My mother called my father ‘Mr Hunt’
For the first few years of married life.
I learned this from a book she had inscribed:
‘To dear Mr Hunt, from his loving wife.’

She was embarrassed when I asked her why
But later on explained how hard it had been
To call him any other name at first, when he –
Her father’s elder – made her seem so small.

Now in a different way, still like a girl,
She calls my father every other sort of name;
And guiding him as he roams old age
Sometimes turns to me as if it were a game…

That once I stand up straight, I too must learn
To walk away and know there’s no return.

-          Sam Hunt

The poem begins with Sam stumbling onto the formality in the relationship that had exited between his parent’s earlier. The words “I learned” show that he did not remember from his childhood nor did anyone tell him but that he discovered. Also, that this decorum of formality was followed during the initial years of their marriage only. The word “inscribed” shows an indelible mark that has been left behind. That she did not address him by his first name is more apparent than her calling him “Mr. Hunt”.

Is the poet meaning to say something when he rhymes “wife” with “life” is the question that comes to reader’s mind while reading.

For the mother it is embarrassing to explain to the child that the sheer age difference between them stopped her from calling him by “any other name”.  Here too, what comes across is not that the husband made her feel small but that she felt humbled in his presence and that his stature was so high that she felt “small”. The poet focuses on the age difference by using dashes twice once before and after “her father’s elder”. The author’s indirect use of enjambment in the line “hard it had been” conjures the image of a tough taskmaster that they husband may have been in the past only to contrast to merely the inability of addressing him otherwise. The contrast of thought between “hard” and “simple” comes through to the reader.

The “girl” in the mother remains. Earlier she was a girl because she was much younger. She is a girl even now for she endears him with ever “sort of name”. The first line carries a separated oxymoron in “different” and “like” to show the similarity and contrast in the mother. A focused read of the poem reveals the authors deliberate use of “name” and “game” to rhyme, again like puns have been intended to be separated.  The game of names comes alive in this rhyme scheme. The reader is subtly guided to the change of game. The father needs “guidance” and is now dependent on the mother. The image gradually dawns on the reader.

The first read of the last lines may seem to lead to death but perhaps it is about no return to being young only growing up and becoming old.

The poem is about knowing that there is “no return” to youth and the endearments life carries with itself. The unsaid comes through more than the said. “Once I stand up straight”, for example, seems to be not so much about being independent as about the transition from dependent to independent and not being able to go back.

Sam’s theme remains the family, yet finality of death does not seem to be the end of life, no return to youth does. Clearly, he was intrigued and perhaps proud of the age difference between his parents.

“Stabat Mater” refers to mother Mary, however here is sorrowful not for her son but the father of the son. 

Solving the unseen

The aove question has been taken from a CIE question paper

Solving the unseen poem

I first read the question carefully and marked key words. In the question above, for example, I underlined “fascination”, “imagine”, “change”, “develop” and “overall impact”.

Then I read the poem once to know what the poem is.

I read the poem the second time keeping the word “imagine” in my mind. As I was reading it the second time I noticed the words “but into my head” – this showed me that from this point onwards the poetess had started imagining.

So then I carefully looked at where were the “real” and “imaginary” parts. The words “the truth” clearly” focus on reality. Therefore, in the first paragraph itself the first point gets answered, at least to a certain extent.

As I continued reading I keep the second bullet point in mind which is “change” and “develop”. Here I reminded myself that the poet may be talking about changes directly and indirectly. I had to look for the metaphor of the poem to show what the poem was talking about indirectly.

While reading I see “destroyed” and “grow” which are a hint towards the second bullet point.

Hmm.. I was wondering what can be destroyed and yet grow. Our own personalities? The poet had already mentioned “different”. The point now develops in my head.

People who are “different” are “destroyed” be their own kind. While directly the poet is talking about a species of bird which is kind of different from its own kind of species indirectly it is referring to people who are different or “rare” – they may have special qualities. These “rare” people are not allowed to be or survive by human kind. These could be about race or specially-abled people.

The bird “speeds out of the distance” shows that these people grow to higher heights. They achieve. The use of the words “gathers weight” takes this theory forward and shows that the person has acquired skills or qualities to equip itself to do better. The word “darkens” is not negative but positive to show its impact and that it has emboldened.

Now the poem starts showing deeper meaning to me.

It is about people who are different. They have their own qualities and are different from the regular run of the mill people. They have at first “white absence” – they are part of us, part of the crowd. Not visible “in the snow” they are part of it. It could include prejudice, discrimination and racism. It could also be about the poet herself who is restricted by family or society.

In my essay I would explore words such as “lustre”, “gold” which reflect royalty and grandeur. I would look at sight and sound evoking words.

This was to guide students to a start. The rest will depend on how you interpret and the direction you take in finding deeper meaning.

Some thoughts on Ming's Little Prey

Ming’s Biggest Prey

A cat can be the laziest and deadliest smooth operator. Ming, the protagonist for me, is self-assured and confident. He loves his luxury and enjoys it completely. “Ming was resting comfortably”, “Ming half dozed”, “liked best lying in the sun”, “the heat of the sun sink into his fur” are examples of the languid and unhurried life that Ming leads. The author’s use of the words “aeroplanes”, “siesta”, “fish”, “perfume” shows the luxury that he lived in. Clearly Elaine loved and pampered him a lot. She picked him “gently”, “wiped” his face shows how she took care of him.

Right at the start the author establishes the hatred that Ming and Teddy have for each other. Teddy picks him up by the “neck” and “stuck” him out. This brings out aggression in the relationship. Ming’s intense hatred for Teddy is shown with words such as “Especially this man called Teddy”, the authors use of inversion in a sentence emphasis the feeling for Teddy.

Ming’s can sense animosity emanating from Teddy. He did not like the way Teddy “looked at him” in Elaine’s absence. Teddy also “muttered a threat” to Ming. Ming’s animal instincts are visible to the reader in more than one way. And yet a cool cat that Ming was took it “calmly”. This shows that he kept his cards close to himself. Ming is aware of threat coming his way when the hair on his neck “prickled” and his ear “twitch involuntarily”.

Ming and Teddy play a game with each other. How to outsmart one another. Teddy tries to make the most of the opportunity to throw Ming out of the scene. Ming being cool and self-assured weighs his pros and cons and makes a move like a seasoned chess player. The author uses many words to highlight Ming’s confidence. “Ming relaxed completely”, “Ming began to feel better”, Ming sensed” makes it evident that Ming understand human ways and responds accordingly.

At many instances they come face-to-face yet Teddy is unable to remove Ming from Elaine’s life.  Right at the start Teddy “stuck” him out. His frustration at not being able to get rid of Ming comes through when instead of grabbing Ming by the towel he merely “threw the towel in to the sink”. Time and again he mutters a “threat” to Ming. Sounds and images appear while reading the text. The speed with which things happen come through with short sentences that Patricia uses like “Ming understood.”

The author prepares the reader about change in tone with “Then the phone rang”. The reader knows there is major action now to happen. Very smartly Patricia makes Elaine exit the scene on the pretext of a phone “call”. Saved by the bell!

Teddy’s struggle and his disadvantageous position has been set with “tried”, “was drunk”, “moving slowly” and “clumsily”. On the other hand Ming’s advantageous and ease are established with “merely”, “plain to Ming”, “nothing easier than to elude him”. The author further adds to Ming’s advantage, to the awareness of the reader “Ming knew” “ the man hadn’t seen him”. Ming “recovers” and “recollects himself” prepares the readers that he is going to take a treacherous step.

The intensity of the relationship is brought out by showing “hatred ran in his veins”, “hatred burned his eyes”. That the hatred was all consuming for Ming is clear. Yet the contrast of his being super cool and in control of the situation is visible with “listened to the man climb up. Clearly Ming is prepared for the fight he is preparing and knows is going to be victorious of.

Ming’s superiority is highlighted when the author says he “glided” and “arrived” almost as if he were a royal person.

The author’s craft of moving from the time “The man was not moving” to “the man’s blood” add to Ming’s appeasement of having qualified the victory. The reader notices that Teddy has become “the man” and is not a person anymore, it is almost as Ming has been personified and Teddy un-personified.

Only Ming and the reader who know about the real killer.

The Lost Woman, Patricia Beer

The “lost woman” is not lost. Her daughter is.

Patricia starts the poem on a very personal note talking about “my” mother. It startles the reader to know that the mother “went with no more warning”, the reader is scared to know that the death of the mother was sudden. Enjambment used to highlight the contrast and tension at death of a person with a “bright voice”.

The reader imagines a usual happy day for the girl returning from school when reading “school” and “brook goes under a lane”. The next line highlights brevity of life with “shocking white” as if messenger of death has come to take the mother away in the “ambulance”.

The poetess uses enjambment again to bring out break in the relationship in the beginning of the second stanza. The reader is shocked with the daughter that the mother did not come back from the hospital and the daughter did not even attend the funeral. The words “a romance began” take the reader into the world of fantasy, the imagination of the daughter into another realm. It clearly charts out a sojourn into the extraordinary. The author uses the word “ivy” to show that her mother was clingy, dependent, insecure person. “Turn” has been used by Patricia to show a change, a transition, from reality to fantasy. “into a tree” shows the mother’s transition into a solid, confident and dependent person. Patricia has created a muse here words like “began” and “turned into”. The muse clearly exists till date “still” and is illusory hence is a “rainbow”. The words “I approach” show that the poet is now seeking the strength of the mother. It is the daughter now who is dependent, for she is the one that “clutch”es.

                                                                                                                                

The words “I made” show that the poetess has created an imaginative life for the mother. “Frustrated no more”… in her imagination the daughter has created an exciting life for the mother, she is a hero for she runs a “canteen”. She romanticizes the mother’s existence here, makes her a hero. She mother does not have a “frustrated” marriage any more. In her attempt to remove the “dull” part the daughter in her own way gives the mother “wit”, a “summer school”. The mother’s life “over the years” was rewritten by the daughter with “made.

Every artist has a muse, an inspiration to spark the creative piece of work. In this case for Patricia it is her mother. She has “acquired” a woman to “haunt the home”. The muse is something to yearn for and “desired”. It seems like she is hiding a “corpse” a person or secret so that no one gets to “know”. The poet wants to keep a secret, something that will not “grow”, no one will get to know about it.

The poetess feels that her muse, her “mother” is “nearly always benign” leaving a hint that there are times she is not so benevolent, kind. The author creates an image of a person who does not scare you in the “dead” of the night yet dawns on you during the “soft” light. The mother does not “chide”. The poet is talking about a perfect muse here. A person who has been long forgotten yet remains soft and comes to almost protect you being “soft”. The dead mother is being idolized since she does not scare but is “soft”. Perhaps the daughter wanted a soft and a not a hard mother in her growing up years that is why the muse is “rabbit-light”

Patricia prepares the reader for a transition with “But”. Her “lost woman” is unlike the perfect use who does not scare people. Her “lost woman” is someone who “snaps”. The last stanza brings out the angst of the mother against the daughter. The daughter for whom she “sacrificed” for the mother wanted the daughter to go beyond the mother and “rise”. The reader can imagine that the daughter took the opportunity to “rise”. The vision created is that of a soul which has emanated from a body and become a “ghost”.

The mother thus accused the daughter of being “lost” of being a “ghost”.

Love 3 George Herbert

George Herbert explores the relationship between himself and “love” which is God in the poem “Love 3”. “Love” which has been personified as God greets the poet and bids him “welcome”. The poet uses the word “yet” which suggests that despite the being made to feel welcome, the poet himself from deep within his “soul” takes a step back. The phrase “Guilty of dust and sin”  implies that the poet, being human is mortal and has been evil in being so. These lines show that his mere being human makes him feel “guilty” owing to the deeds he commits and his mortal nature.

The use of the word “But” is not about however. The word “But” has been used to bring about a contrast. God being “quick-eyed” can clearly see that the man “grows slack”. God may be quick to respond and can feel the poet being hesitant.

Throughout the poem the poet feels inferior in his avatar of being human. Hence he does not feel that he deserves to be in the presence of “Love” which is god. The poem has a biblical reference in the lines  “I the unkind, ungrateful?” which could imply not being gratitude to god for what he has provided. The poet feels that he has disfigured, dismembered his “eyes” with the use of the words “marred”. The reader gets a feeling that the poet has looked at things he should not have, again being biblical in nature as if looking a tempting objects. The words “let my shame” hints again at the poet feeling inferior of having done deeds he should be ashamed of. The words “guilty of dust and sin” could further imply that the nature of man is such that he is tempted by food and riches of life  and giving in to temptation is sinful. In his being a human the poet thinks he is undeserving of even looking at  “thee” which is god. The poet considers himself so little, mere that he condemns his own self to be worthy of only “hell”.

God, on the other hand, is very understanding and filled with “love”. God is warm and kind throughout the poem. The words “bade me welcome” could mean that God was generous and benevolent. The term “quick-eyed” implies that God can perceive everything around him and even though the poet does not say anything God can feel that deep within the poet has withdrawn. God’s hospitality and assuring nature comes through with “sweetly questioning”. God made human, imperfect and that he does not expect them to be perfect is implied with “Who made the eyes but I?”

There is a reference to Jesus and his acceptance of his being crucified to take the “blame” for imperfections of humans in the line “who bore the blame?” God invites him to take the communion in the last line when God says “sit down” and “taste my meat”.

The imagery is that of a host and guest around dinner table having a conversation. The host is “welcoming” and asks the guest to have “meat”. The reader gets a feeling that he is watching two people have a conversation over dinner. The picture of the “guest” being hesitant and undeserving of a meal with a superior being comes through in the poem.

The tone keeps changing in the poem. It moves from being mild and gentle to feeling “guilty”. The poet’s tone of self-hatred comes through in “let my shame” to being firm and assertive “you shall be he”. The poet’s tone is submissive in the words “So I did sit and eat”. God’s tone is dignified and respectful when he “bade me welcome”. From being fearful the poet’s tone becomes accepting of god’s forgiveness.