Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Brigit Pegeen Kelly’s "Song" is a haunting and evocative poem that blends elements of myth, tragedy, and moral reckoning to explore the enduring power of violence, loss, and guilt. At its heart lies the story of a sacrificial act committed in thoughtless cruelty—boys decapitating a goat and leaving its body to decay—and the resulting reverberations that echo through the lives of the perpetrators and the goat’s young owner. Through its lyrical language and layered imagery, the poem transforms this horrific act into a meditation on innocence, the weight of grief, and the inescapable consequences of one’s actions.

The opening lines set the tone of the poem’s eerie and mythic quality: "Listen: there was a goat’s head hanging by ropes in a tree. / All night it hung there and sang." The imperative "Listen" immediately draws the reader into the narrative, establishing an atmosphere of solemnity and attention. The image of the singing goat’s head is surreal, embodying both the unnaturalness of its fate and the profound emotional resonance of its song. The head’s song becomes a metaphor for grief and longing, a call between the severed head and body, each incomplete without the other. This invocation of physical and spiritual separation creates a central tension that threads through the poem.

The poem’s structure interweaves the perspectives of the girl, the boys, and the goat itself, creating a tapestry of voices and experiences. The girl’s tender relationship with the goat—naming him "Broken Thorn Sweet Blackberry" and caring for him with songs and dreams—contrasts sharply with the boys’ thoughtless brutality. Her affection elevates the goat into a symbol of innocence and beauty, making its violent death all the more devastating. The boys, on the other hand, are initially presented as unthinking agents of cruelty, their laughter and "whistling" underscoring their detachment from the gravity of their actions. Yet, as the poem progresses, Kelly subverts this simplicity by showing how the goat’s song lingers in their lives, turning their jest into a haunting and redemptive force.

The singing head functions as a moral arbiter, transforming the boys’ act of violence into an ongoing reckoning. Its song, described as "not a cruel song" but one of "sweetness," suggests a complex interplay of punishment and grace. The sweetness of the song is not a relief but a deeper burden, a poignant reminder of the life they destroyed and the innocence they lost. This duality—the goat’s head as both victim and judge—imbues the poem with a mythic weight, reminiscent of Greek tragedies where acts of hubris lead to relentless consequences. The boys are condemned not by an external force but by the internal resonance of their guilt, which manifests as the song that only they can truly hear.

Kelly’s use of vivid and visceral imagery anchors the poem in a tangible reality even as it ascends into the realm of allegory. The goat’s cries, described as "like a man," and the girl’s "bare feet" gouged by stones ground the narrative in physical suffering. The recurring references to ropes, trains, and the tree further reinforce the inextricable ties between violence and its aftermath. These details create a palpable sense of the world’s harshness, against which the goat’s ethereal singing offers a stark, almost otherworldly contrast.

The poem’s exploration of communal and individual responses to violence is also noteworthy. The community’s hurried efforts to shield the girl from the gruesome reality and replace the goat reflect an instinct to suppress pain and move on. However, the poem resists such erasure. The singing head ensures that the act cannot be forgotten or dismissed as a "joke." It forces the boys—and by extension, the readers—to confront the enduring impact of their actions, challenging the societal tendency to obscure or minimize suffering.

The closing lines encapsulate the poem’s thematic essence: "This song / Is sweet. It is sweet. The heart dies of this sweetness." The repetition of "sweet" underscores the paradox of the song’s nature—its beauty lies in its sorrow, and its sorrow lies in its beauty. The sweetness becomes a metaphor for the transformative power of grief, capable of reshaping hearts and evoking profound empathy. Yet, it is also an unbearable weight, a sweetness that overwhelms and consumes.

"Song" is a powerful and unsettling work that transforms a brutal act into a meditation on the complexities of morality, memory, and redemption. Through its lyrical intensity and layered symbolism, the poem compels the reader to listen—not just to the haunting song of the goat’s head but to the echoes of their own humanity. It challenges us to reckon with the consequences of our actions and to find, within the sweetness of sorrow, a path toward understanding and transformation.

Copyright (c) 2025 PoetryExplorer

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...