Rukhaya M.K

“My chief aim is to make a poem . You make it for yourself firstly, and then if other people want to join in… then there we are.”

The speaker begins in his is abrupt, dramatical style as he does in “Evans:”

You remember Davies? He died, you know,
With his face to the wall, as the manner is
Of the poor peasant in his stone croft
On the Welsh hills. I recall the room

He dies with his face to the wall: the typical case of the poor peasant. Is it, in a sort of punishment that he turns his face to the wall? Is it owing to shame or guilt one wonders. The speaker then goes on to elaborate that this was the manner with all the peasants. Perhaps to the peasant, this was his way of sacramental absolution. A ‘croft’ is a fenced or enclosed area of land, usually small and arable with a crofter’s dwelling thereon.(Wikipedia). The ‘poor peasant’ dwelt in his ‘stone croft’. The word ‘croft’ therefore denotes the limitedness of his existence, and the confinement in which the peasant is. His knowledge of the world is restricted to this area. The word ‘hard’ points to the rigid conditions and the inflexible way of life making use of the barest basic amenities of life.

The parson-poet asserts that he recalls the room beneath the slates. He recollects the ‘smirched snow.’ The snow appears to be discoloured here. Moreover, snow is a symbol of purity and innocence, and the word ‘smirched’ signifies ‘to sully or tarnish (a person, reputation, character, etc.)Therefore, it may be a reference to the peasant who in spite of all his purity is reprimanded for the slightest flaw. In such case, the phrase “smirched snow” becomes a transferred epithet, provided that the snow was not really smirched.

His bed seems ‘wide’ as compared to the smallness of the place. His condition is as pathetic as a lonely ewe about to lamb in the harsh weather of mid-March. This image in particular drives the poignancy home. The turbulence of the situation in enhanced with the climatic conditions of the present:

I remember also the trapped wind
Tearing the curtains, and the wild light’s
Frequent hysteria upon the floor,

The wind shifting the curtains, also disturbs the light and scatters it as if it is hysterical. The bare floor without a rug echoes the condition of the peasant: his state of inadequacy. Even the boards on the floor are uneasy owing to wear and tear. The neighbours tread on these, to endow Davies with “gruff words of meaningless comfort.” The phrase echoes that neither their tone nor tenor conveyed any real sympathy. They leave him to die, heartlessly in damp and unhygienic conditions. Death is left in league with the dank walls.

© Rukhaya MK 2008
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