Comment closely on ways in which the language and structure create the mood of the poem “Song” by Alun Lewis

The poet creates a mood of melancholy by presenting life as unbearable when losing the one you love. This is shown by “But oh! the drag and dullness of my Self: / The turning seasons wither in my head.” The use of an exclamation mark indicates the exasperation of the speaker signifying how her life is now intolerable because even though at this stage of the poem she accepts the fact that her husband is not coming back she hates it. This can be further identified as the reference to “wither” suggests that there is no bloom which links to the beginning of the poem where she mentions that “The seed, the seed of love was sick.” Thus there is continuity throughout the poem about the idea that losing the one you love makes life unbearable and “sick” since “seed” can be related to the idea of fertility and thus new life being created. Also the alliteration created between “drag and dullness” enhances the idea of time not passing quickly thus making life unbearable as since time is not passing she feels the loss of her husband for longer. Similarly this idea of time not passing when you are not with the one you love thus making life unbearable can also be seen through “Amoretti, Sonnet 86”. In “Amoretti” too time is presented as not passing when not being with your loved one as it says “And many nights, that slowly seem’d to move” thus suggesting that when you are in a state of misery because you are not with your loved one, time moves slowly. However there is a contrast between the distance of the two lovers in “Amoretti” and in “Song”, because while in Amoretti at the end of the sonnet sequence the two are able to be together and get married, in “Song” there is a deeper sense of melancholy since the distance between the two lovers is final as the husband died, thus making life more unbearable for the wife in “Song.” That could be perhaps because Lewis as a soldier faced extreme misery and death and wanted to give focus to the idea of the finality of separation and just how unbearable life can be. This idea is further enhanced as the poet creates a painful atmosphere by presenting absence as heartrending for the one who is left behind. Lewis shows that through “my bed was like a grave.” The simile created between “bed” and “grave” links the two together showing how his absence is so painful to her that the place where she rests was like a place where one dies, which also suggests that the link between the bed and the grave also creates a metaphorical link between him and her since “his ghost was lying there” showing how even when he was absent she still felt that he was with her. The idea of her life being too painful because of his absence is further highlighted by the repetition of “my bed” in the final stanza. As Lewis linked the speaker’s bed before with a grave we are not sure if in the final stanza she is talking in fact about her bed or grave. This suggests that the two became one because of the pain she felt from his absence. Likewise, this idea of absence being too painful for the one who stays behind is also shown in “The Forsaken Wife.” Here the speaker angrily describes how the absence of her husband has caused her tremendous suffering as she says “my broken heart, your broken vows.” This once again demonstrates how the people who are left behind are hurt deeply because of the absence of the ones they love. However, the context here is different because while in “The Forsaken Wife” a bitter hurt and anger is projected, as the poet describes her own experience with her husband cheating and leaving her, in “Song” the hurt presented as a result of the absence is almost gloomy. This being because of the fact that due to the war Lewis’ letters to his wife suggest depression, therefore it could be said that he is passing this sadness that he feels through the speaker of his poem and their loss.