“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.…