Imitations

Imitations 

Stanza 1 

In this house,in this afternoon room, 

my son and I. The other side of glass

snowflakes whitewash the shed roof and the grass

this surprised April. My son is 16,

an approximate man. He is my chameleon,

my soft diamond, my deciduous evergreen. 

This stanza depicts Abse observing his 16 year old son. He is described to be just like Abse at that age 'my Chameleon'  and also it is evident that loves his son because he is described to be his 'soft diamond' and his 'deciduous evergreen' which could be symbolic of something he is proud of and wants to show him to the world. 

Stanza 2 

Eyes half closed, he listens to pop forgeries 

of music- how hard it is to know -and perhaps 

dreams of some school Juliet I don't know. 

Meanwhile, beyond the bending window,

gusting suddenly, despite a sky half blue,

a blur of white blossom, whiter snow. 

He now observes the typical habits of his son, he believes that the music he listens to is just forgeries of music he would have listened to in his day, therefore his sons childhood is no different to what his was. He is also subconsciously questioning his sons maturity because he is questioning whether he is thinking of some 'school juliet' meaning someone who he fancies in school. 

Stanza 3 

And I stare, oh immortal springtime, till 

I'm elsewhere and the age my cool son is,

my father alive again (I, his duplicate) 

his high breath, my low breath, sticking to the glass 

while two white butterflies stumble,held each 

to each, as if by elastic, and pass. 

The final stanza shows how this experience is completely normal and would have been experienced from generation to generation.

Sons

Sons

Stanza 1 

Sarcastic sons slam front doors. 

So a far door slams and I think

of Cardiff outskirts where, once, captured acres played

at being small tamed gardens: the concrete way

roads supplanted grass, wild flowers, bosky paths.

 Now my son is like that, altering every day.

This stanza shows us that the persona's son is undergoing puberty which has changed his attitudes and given him mood swings resulting in him slamming 'front doors'. He compares this drastic change with that of how the Cardiff he knows has changed over time. Day by day Cardiff changed throughout his life same with his son.

Stanza 2 

I was like that ; also like 

those new semis that seemed ashamed,

their naked windows slashed across by whitewash.

At the frontier of Nowhere order and chaos clash.

And who's not lived at the frontier of Nowhere

and being adolescent was both prim and brash?

He also describes this time of life as like

new houses which are left unused.

He has described it to be like this because this time of life may be like this because it lacks direction and meaning. This is the time in life where most people are searching for the true meaning of life. 

Stanza 3


Strange a London  door should slam
and I think thus, of Cardiff evenings
trying to rain, of quick dark where raw brick could hide,
could dream of being ruins where ghosts abide.
Still, spreading lamps assert themselves too early.
Awkward Anglo-Welsh half town, half countryside.


He now goes onto describe how this is like this everywhere nd every person goes through the same change in their lives, that is something we all share.


Stanza 4

Son, you are like that and I
love you for it. In adult rooms
the hesitant sense of not belonging quite.
Too soon maturity will switch off your night,
thrust fake electric roots, the nameless becoming
wrongly named and your savage darkness bright.


This stanza shows that Abse misses the time of life, it is the last stage in life before maturity takes over. You need to enjoy it while you can. 

Two Photographs

Two Photographs

Stanza 1

Here's a photograph of grandmother, Annabella.

How slim she appears, how vulnerable.Pretty.

And here's a photograph of grandmother, Doris.

How portly she looks, formidable. Handsome.

Annabella wears a demure black frock with an amber 

brooch. 

Both grandmas appear to be he complete opposites of each other, 

Annabella (typically associated with more physically attractive women) is very slim and pretty whereas Doris ( a more everyday name for a more normal women) is very 'formidable' and strong physically and mentally.This stanza is basically just a fond look back at Abe's past with no real interesting facts given.

Stanza 2 

Doris, a lacy black gown with a string of pearls.

One photo's marked Ystalyfera 1880,

the other Bridgend 1890.

Both were told to say, 'Cheese'; one, defiant, said 'Chalk!'

Here we see a complete change in what we would believe their stereotypical characteristics to be, Doris is pictured wearing ' a lacy gown with a string of pearls' we would normally associate Annabella to be wearing something like this. The last line highlights how one of them is acting defiant to any authority, it is more than likely that this was Doris because we are now made aware of her defiant nature. 

Stanza 3 

Annabella spoke Welsh with a Patagonian accent.

Doris spoke English with a Welsh Valleys lilt.

Annabella fasted- pious, passive, enjoyed small-talk.

Doris feasted- pacy,pushy, would never pray. Ate pork!

When Annabella told Doris she was damned 

indecorous Doris devilishly laughed.

I liked Doris, I liked Annabella,

though Doris was bossy and Annabella daft.

I do not think they liked each other.

Here we are shown even more of how different they are. Annabella is a devout Welsh women who also follows Judaism like Abse. The only reason that we are made aware of this is because she believes that Doris is damned because she eats pork. however Doris, who could be Jewish, obviously does not think much of her religion. She feasts when Annabella fasts, also when Annabella says she is damned she 'devilishly' laughs. The reason behind the animosity between them could be that Doris is symbolic of the devil whereas Annabella is a saint. 

Stanza 4 

Last night I dreamed they stood back to back,

not for the commencement of a duel

but to see who was taller! Now, in these revived 

waking hours, my Eau de Cologne grandmothers

with buns of grey hair, of withered rose,

seem illusory , fugitive, like my dream-

or like the dust that secretively flows

in a sudden sunbeam (sieved through leaky curtains)

and disappears when and where that sunbeam goes. 

even after death, both grandmothers still seem to fight for supremacy over the other, now there memory is distant and fading and all that is left of them is these two photographs.

Nothing to be said

Nothing to be said

Stanza 1

For nations vague as weed, 

for nomads among stones, 

Small-statured  cross-faced tribes 

And cobble close families 

in mill towns on dark mornings 

Life is slow dying. 

This stanza shows that no matter who we are we all die.Throughout our lives we live them for as long as we possibly can until we inevitably die. No matter who we are we cannot escape our death. There is nothing that we can do to escape this.

Stanza 2 

So are their separate ways 

of building, benediction,

Measuring love and money 

Ways of slowly dying.

The day spent hunting pig

Or holding a garden party,

We should all try to enjoy life the best we can because it will not last and sooner or later we all die. 

No matter what we do to enjoy ourselves can only prolong or shorten how long it takes for death to come. 

Stanza 3 

Hours giving evidence 

or birth, advance 

on death equally slowly.

And saying so to some 

Means nothing; others it leaves 

Nothing to be said. 

We could try to be philosophical and find out the true meaning, but most of us are happy to live out our live suntil the inevitable end.

Reference Back

Reference Back 

Stanza 1 

That was a pretty one, I heard you call 

From the unsatisfactory hall

To the unsatisfactory room where I 

Played record after record, idly,

Wasting my time at home, that you 

Looked so much forward to. 

This stanza tells us that he is stuck somewhere that he feels he should not be. the Second to last stanza shows us that it is at home so we are lead to believe that the voice from the 'unsatisfactory hall' could be infact his mother. This poem is very similar to other by Larkin such as As bad as a mile where he describes missing throwing an apple core into a bin as failing in life. We are made aware that he is unhappy with his current situation because of the constant use of words such as 'unsatisfactory' which shows that he feels he does not feel as if he as achieved much in life. He would love to leave home and start a fresh new life however he feels as if that would hurt his mother. it could also be down to the fact that he does not like change, we learn this from toads and toads revisited. 

Stanza 2 

Oliver's Riverside Blues, it was. And now 

I shall, I suppose, always remember how 

The flock of notes those antique Negroes blew

Out of Chicago  air into 

 A huge remembering pre-electric horn 

The year after I was born 

Three decades later made this sudden bridge 

From your unsatisfactory age 

To my unsatisfactory prime. 

This stanza makes me believe that the only reason that he has been 'trapped' at home was his and his mother shared love of music such as Oliver's Riverside Blues. And know after many years of living together they have grown apart and now thirty years later they are theoretically separated with her unsatisfactory age and his unsatisfactory prime. 

Stanza 3 

Truly, though our element is time,

We're not suited to the long perspectives

Open at each instant of our lives. 

They link us to our losses: worse, 

They show us what we have as it once was ,

Blindingly undiminished, just as though 

By acting differently we could have kept it so. 

This stanza reiterates the gap between them, they could have been closer but they cannot live together because of the age range. Whatever they had is now lost and neither of them want to admit to that, they both keep trying but it is no use.