At last night’s Poetry Room or ‘Thébaïde’ (place of contemplation as those of us who have read Douglas Dunn’s poem ‘Tursac’ now know) we discussed the ground-breaking collection Elegies. Published in 1985, the book followed the death of the poet’s wife from cancer and can be seen as one long, and perfectly executed, poem of love, loss and consolation. ?????? ???? ????
Opinion was fairly divided among those who loved the book (one person described it as ‘love at first sight’, while others felt it gave them an insight into their own experiences of grief). However, others – while admiring the book’s craft and confidence didn’t feel it touched them on a ‘heart’ level. One person thought this might be because we all have a personal relationship to the subject-matter – for some Elegies chimed with this, others felt it was contrary to their experience and not ‘how it was’. ????????? ?????
We began by looking at ‘Thirteen Steps and the Thirteenth of March’. The poem in thirteen stanzas looks at ‘the grief before grief’ with the husband catering for his dying wife’s friends who have come to visit. It was felt that the friends’ presence was resented but also welcomed as ritual and distraction, helping define the exclusive moments the husband enjoyed with his wife as they remembered their lives by candlelight. The pathos of the line ‘Her fingers dwindled and her rings slipped off’ was admired as was the poet’s characteristic restraint and lack of sentimentality in his handling of emotive material. The poem ‘Arrangements’ describes the husband registering his wife’s death. The reader is plunged into the husband’s confusion as he enters the wrong door of the registry office (where marriages are taking place). It was noted how deftly the husband’s shock and the relentlessness of the legal ritual was underpinned through the use of short lines, the present tense and the forward drive of alliteration.
‘A Rediscovery of Juvenilia’ was for one person the poem of the collection. She noted how every stanza was in itself a poem and enjoyed the sense of growing acceptance that the piece provided. More consolation was found in ‘Tursac’ which describes a tender erotic memory between husband and wife. Finally we looked at the last poem in Elegies ????? ?????? ????????????? ‘Leaving Dundee’. The use of rhyme was again noted, which gave the poem a sense of motion and brought both the narrator and reader to a place of acceptance and potential. Thank-you to everyone who came along and who contributed so generously.
We’re partying next month at The Poetry Room! Everyone is extremely welcome (even if you’ve never been before). Please bring along a poem that you love. It can be contemporary or ancient, silly or serious, rhyming or non-rhyming – whatever. If you can bring along about 10 photocopies even better. Nibbles would be great too. Nothing big (packet of twiglets, carton of fruit juice etc.. and don’t worry if you don’t get round to this, your presence is the most important thing!) We’ll be meeting at Blackwell’s, Newcastle on Tuesday 30 June at 6.30pm. Spread the word. See you there – and have a great month.
