Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"The Inquest" is a narrative poem by Welsh poet William Henry Davies, first published in 1905. The poem tells the story of a coroner's inquest into the death of a woman who drowned herself in a river. Through the testimony of various witnesses, the poem explores themes of despair, loneliness, and the harsh realities of life for the working class. Davies uses vivid imagery and stark language to paint a powerful picture of the woman's tragic end and the societal factors that contributed to it.

The poem is structured in seven stanzas, each with four lines of roughly equal length. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, with occasional variations, and the meter is predominantly iambic. Davies' use of rhyme and meter lends a sense of musicality to the poem, despite its somber subject matter.

The poem opens with the coroner calling the inquest into order and asking the first witness to testify. The witness describes finding the woman's body in the river and pulling her to the bank, where he realized she was dead. The second witness is a fellow worker of the deceased, who testifies that she was often despondent and had no close friends or family. The third witness is a neighbor who recounts hearing the woman crying and screaming in her room the night before her death.

As the inquest continues, it becomes clear that the woman was deeply unhappy and had no support system to help her through her struggles. The final witness is a doctor who testifies that the woman's body showed signs of malnourishment and disease, suggesting a life of poverty and hardship. The poem ends with the coroner declaring that the woman took her own life while in a state of temporary insanity.

Through "The Inquest," Davies shines a light on the struggles faced by working-class people in the early 20th century, particularly women. The poem's structure and language add to its emotional impact, creating a haunting portrait of a woman driven to despair by her circumstances. Overall, the poem is a powerful example of Davies' ability to use poetry to give voice to the marginalized and to highlight the injustices of the world.

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