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Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained | |||
"Outside History: 9. In Exile" by Eavan Boland is a deeply reflective and poignant exploration of memory, language, and displacement. Through the lens of the speaker's childhood memories of German girls who came to assist her mother during the winter, Boland delves into themes of loss, exile, and the indelible impact of historical events on individual lives. The poem begins by setting the scene of a domestic arrangement during winter, where the German girls—sisters from a "ruined city"—help with household chores. Their inability to communicate in English or French, and their rapid conversation in their own language, underscores their alienation and the deep scars of their experiences. Boland uses the language barrier to symbolize the greater chasms of understanding and empathy that war and displacement create. The German sisters' language, filled with "syllables in which pain was radical, integral," becomes a powerful symbol of the trauma and suffering embedded in their history and identity. Boland's imagery of the language striving for "an unhurt kingdom" captures the longing for a return to wholeness and peace, a desire to reclaim something lost in the devastation of war. As the poem progresses, the speaker reflects on how these foreign sounds became intertwined with her own perceptions of the Irish landscape and its recurring motifs of darkness, cold, and drizzle. The sounds of the German language merge with the sensory experiences of her childhood environment, becoming part of the fabric of her memory. Boland's skillful use of imagery and detail brings the domestic scene to life, with the "stone-flagged kitchen," "bleached rags," and "pot of tea on the stove" evoking a sense of warmth and familiarity amidst the cold and darkness. Yet, the speaker's recollections are tinged with a sense of unease and foreboding, as the foreign language and the presence of the German girls introduce elements of the unknown and the threatening into her world. The poem concludes with the speaker, now in New England and decades removed from those childhood winters, reflecting on the enduring impact of those experiences. The "saltboxes, marshes and the glove-tanned colors of the sugar maples" of her current surroundings contrast sharply with the "soft wet, the light and those early darks" of her Irish childhood. Yet, the memory of the German sisters' language—a "guttural, hurt to the quick" sound—remains vivid and unhealed. "In Exile" is a meditation on the ways in which memories of displacement and trauma persist across time and space, shaping our identities and our understanding of the world. Boland's poem is a testament to the power of language and memory to connect us to our pasts, even as we find ourselves far removed from the places and experiences that shaped us. Through her exploration of exile, both physical and emotional, Boland invites readers to consider the complexities of history, identity, and the human capacity for resilience in the face of loss.
| Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE DEAD PAN by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING MAY AND DEATH by ROBERT BROWNING LOVERS' INFINITENESS by JOHN DONNE FRAGMENTS OF A LOST GNOSTIC POEM OF THE 12TH CENTURY by HERMAN MELVILLE ODE 13. ON THE CHARMS OF PEACE by BACCHYLIDES THE RIVAL CELESTIAL by WILLIAM ROSE BENET |
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