Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

The poem "When You Go Away" by William Stanley Merwin delves into the emotions and existential uncertainties that follow a departure, which could be interpreted as the absence or loss of a loved one, the end of a life phase, or even the anticipation of one's mortality. The imagery and tone conjure a world turned unsettlingly askew, one where familiar elements take on distorted or devalued meanings, echoing the alienation and emptiness that accompany loss.

The opening line, "When you go away the wind clicks around to the north," instantaneously establishes a setting wherein natural elements seem to be responding to human affairs, almost as though the cosmos itself shifts in response to the act of leaving. This environmental change sets the stage for further distortions in the fabric of reality, highlighting how deeply the absence affects the speaker.

"The painters work all day but at sundown the paint falls / Showing the black walls," speaks to the futility of human endeavor when faced with inescapable realities like death or separation. Here, even the diligent attempts to add color and life are undone, revealing an unvarnished truth-symbolized by "the black walls"-that cannot be masked or avoided.

The line "The clock goes back to striking the same hour / That has no place in the years," articulates a sense of suspended time, an hour unanchored from the continuum of life. It's an existential moment that defies measurement, as if the very constructs of time disintegrate when faced with the void left by the departure.

The speaker then finds themselves "wrapped in the bed of ashes," a metaphor that implies both a death-like state and an existential low point. Awakened by this experience, they are confronted by the notion that "the beards of the dead get their growth," which is perhaps an abstract way of saying that the wisdom or presence of those who have gone before us becomes more pronounced or realized in these desolate moments.

What follows is a litany of realizations, starting with "I remember that I am falling / That I am the reason," signaling an admission of one's own role, whether intentional or not, in this universe of loss. This admission is both personal and universal, blending individual accountability with the larger, existential narrative of human life.

Finally, the phrase "And that my words are the garment of what I shall never be / Like the tucked sleeve of a one-armed boy," evokes a sense of ineffability and impotence. The speaker's words are acknowledged as an inadequate cloak for their being, as incomplete as the "tucked sleeve of a one-armed boy." It's an emotionally devastating conclusion, confronting the limitations of language and the imperfections that make us human.

The poem is a poignant and meditative foray into the realms of loss, change, and existential discontent. It navigates the ineffable aspects of human experience with grace and complexity, making "When You Go Away" a deeply moving testament to the struggles that define the human condition.

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