Unseen Analysis on the poem ‘Lament’

The poem ‘Lament’ can be seen as a series of things, which the poet is grieving for as a result of the destruction of war. The poem begins every stanza with the word “For” in order to suggest all the things, which the poet thinks the reader should feel sorrowful towards. The poem has a regular structure and comprises seven stanzas, all of which are three lines long. This regular structure allows the poet to explore specific things, in each stanza, which he believes are being impact upon by the destruction of war and the pollution it causes. Each line of the poem is end stopped and this disciplined form can be seen as paradoxical with the almost dystopian level of destruction, which is being described.

The first stanza of the poem begins with the word “For,” in order to suggest the things, which the poet believes the reader should be lamenting for. The use of the present participle of the word “pulsing,” conveys to the reader a sense of the desperation of the turtle, by suggesting the energy with which it searches for a breeding ground. The personification of the word “burden,” suggests the distressing reality of the experience for the turtle, as she searches for a breading ground. The visual image of eggs laid in their “nest of sickness,” conveys a juxtaposition in the vitality and life fullness suggested by “eggs,” in contrast with the word “sickness,” which alludes to the unhealthiness of the turtle’s environment.

Structurally, the poet uses the second stanza, which comprises one full sentence, in order to explore another visual image for which he thinks the reader should grieve. The poet describes a cormorant in “his funeral silk” this image could be seen to convey both the ‘silky’ nature of the oil residue, with which the bird is covered with, as it almost shines like “silk”. However, the use of the word “funeral”