A peacock on an olive branch looks beyond
the grove to the road, beyond the road to the sea,
blank-lit, where a sailboat anchors to a cove.
A peacock sitting on an olive branch looks beyond what's ahead of itself to see a sailboat anchored to a cove.
As it is morning, below deck a man is pouring water into a cup,
listening to the radio-talk of the ships: barges dead
in the calms awaiting port call, pleasure boats whose lights
hours ago went out, fishermen setting their nets for mullet,
Because it is morning, a man below deck is pouring water into the cup while listening to the radio talk of the ships: flat-bottomed boats are awaiting calmly the port call, pleasure boats whose lights went out hours ago, fishermen setting their nets for mullet,
as summer tavernas hang octopus to dry on their lines,
whisper smoke into wood ovens, sweep the terraces
clear of night, putting the music out with morning
light, and for the breath of an hour it is possible
to consider the waters of this sea wine-dark, to remember
that there was no word for blue among the ancients,
as summer Greek restaurants and cafes hang octopus to dry on their lines, make fire in the wood ovens, sweep the terraces at night, turning off the music as morning arrives, and for an hour the waters of the sea is wine-dark, describing it so because in ancient times there was no word for blue
but there was the whirring sound before the oars
of the great triremes sang out of the seam of world,
but there was the whirring sound before the oars of the great Greek/Roman warship sang out of the seam of the world,
through pine-sieved winds silvered by salt flats until
they were light enough to pass for breath from the heavens,
through pine sifted winds silvered by salt flats until they were light enough to pass as breaths from the heavens,
troubled enough to fell ships and darken thought —
then as now the clouds pass, roosters sleep in their huts,
the winds are strong enough to sink ships and darken thought - and now as the clouds pass, roosters sleep in their huts,
the sea flattens under glass air, but there is nothing to hold us there:
not the quiet of marble nor the luff of sail, fields of thyme,
the sea is flat under the air, but there is nothing to hold it there: not the quiet of marble nor the wind steering by blowing against the sail, fields of thyme,
a vineyard at harvest, and the sea filled with the bones of those
in flight from wars east and south, our wars, their remains
scavenged on the seafloor and in its caves, belongings now
a flotsam washed to the rocks. Stand here and look
into the distant haze, there where the holy mountain
with its thousand monks wraps itself in shawls of rain,
a vineyard at harvest, and the sea filled with the bones of those fleeing from wars east and south, our wars, their remains scavenged on the seafloor and in its caves, their belongings now washed up to the rocks. Stand here and look into the distant mist, there where the holy mountain with its thousand monks is being rained upon
then look to the west, where the rubber boats tipped
into the tough waves. Rest your eyes there, remembering the words
of Anacreon, himself a refugee of war, who appears
in the writings of Herodotus:
I love and do not love, I am mad and I am not mad.
Like you he thought himself not better,
nor worse than anyone else.
then look to the west, where the inflatable boats sank into the tough waves. Keep your eyes there, remember the words of Anacreon, the Greek lyric poet, himself a refuge of war, who appears in the writings of Herodotus, the "Father of History": I love and do not love, I am mad and I am not mad. Similar to you, he did not think of himself as better or worse than anyone else.
In this poem, the author utilized symbolism (peacock represents vision and watchfulness), personification, metaphor (pine-sieved). She used symbolism in the first few lines of the poem by starting out with a peacock looking into the distance. Peacocks symbolize vision and watchfulness as if it is seeing a scene unfold or watching over someone. There was a lot of personification utilized in this poem. One was "... the holy mountain... wraps itself in shawls of rain..." This line is personifying the mountain, making it seem as it is wrapping itself in rain because there is so much rain. She also used a metaphor as she stated "pine-sieved." Sieves are used to sift to remove anything large from whatever is being sifted through. Pine-sieved meant that the pines were sifting the wind through, making the scent smell like pine and the wind smooth and light.
The author's tone was somber and gloomy because the poem is about the ships that sank, the refugees fleeing from wars whom all ended up dying and littering the sea with their bones. The author starts the poem as a viewer from the distance and soon immerses into the news on the radio which is all about tragedies at sea. Although the sea can be calm at times, it has brought down many ships and along with them, many lives. The tone in the line "... and the sea filled with the bones of those in flight from wars east and south, our wars, their remains scavenged on the seafloor and in its caves, belongings now a flotsam washed to the rocks." is as if the author is mourning over the losses of lives of those who fled war, only to be taken by the sea.
The tone in the beginning of the poem was vigilant as represented through the peacock gazing through the distance. Then later, as the poem focuses on the news from the radio, the tone changes to somber and gloomy as it talks about the deaths of those fleeing from wars.
The title is "Mourning" and now that I have a more in-depth perspective of the poem, I can see that the title is for the refugees that fled from the war. She is mourning the losses of those trying to escape in order to preserve their lives, only to have been departed from the world, with their remains on the sea floor or washed up on a shore.
The theme of the poem is of war and the situation in which one is in. The war that resulted in lives taken from those in the front lines and those fleeing. The second theme is that, people are not better nor are they worse than anyone else because in the end they are people. In the end, if there is war, they either fight or flee. The situations in which one is put through is a situation of their own that is incomparable with another person's because to them, their hard times are terrible to themselves although it may not seem so compared to others.
Works Cited
Forché, Carolyn. “Mourning by Carolyn Forché.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation,
www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/90645/mourning-57d18c2f7cfb2.
In this poem, the author utilized symbolism (peacock represents vision and watchfulness), personification, metaphor (pine-sieved). She used symbolism in the first few lines of the poem by starting out with a peacock looking into the distance. Peacocks symbolize vision and watchfulness as if it is seeing a scene unfold or watching over someone. There was a lot of personification utilized in this poem. One was "... the holy mountain... wraps itself in shawls of rain..." This line is personifying the mountain, making it seem as it is wrapping itself in rain because there is so much rain. She also used a metaphor as she stated "pine-sieved." Sieves are used to sift to remove anything large from whatever is being sifted through. Pine-sieved meant that the pines were sifting the wind through, making the scent smell like pine and the wind smooth and light.
The author's tone was somber and gloomy because the poem is about the ships that sank, the refugees fleeing from wars whom all ended up dying and littering the sea with their bones. The author starts the poem as a viewer from the distance and soon immerses into the news on the radio which is all about tragedies at sea. Although the sea can be calm at times, it has brought down many ships and along with them, many lives. The tone in the line "... and the sea filled with the bones of those in flight from wars east and south, our wars, their remains scavenged on the seafloor and in its caves, belongings now a flotsam washed to the rocks." is as if the author is mourning over the losses of lives of those who fled war, only to be taken by the sea.
The tone in the beginning of the poem was vigilant as represented through the peacock gazing through the distance. Then later, as the poem focuses on the news from the radio, the tone changes to somber and gloomy as it talks about the deaths of those fleeing from wars.
The title is "Mourning" and now that I have a more in-depth perspective of the poem, I can see that the title is for the refugees that fled from the war. She is mourning the losses of those trying to escape in order to preserve their lives, only to have been departed from the world, with their remains on the sea floor or washed up on a shore.
The theme of the poem is of war and the situation in which one is in. The war that resulted in lives taken from those in the front lines and those fleeing. The second theme is that, people are not better nor are they worse than anyone else because in the end they are people. In the end, if there is war, they either fight or flee. The situations in which one is put through is a situation of their own that is incomparable with another person's because to them, their hard times are terrible to themselves although it may not seem so compared to others.
Works Cited
Forché, Carolyn. “Mourning by Carolyn Forché.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation,
www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/90645/mourning-57d18c2f7cfb2.
