Fall

08

The Past is Always With Us

The Subject of Memory in the Poems Piano, La Belle

Dame Sans Merci, War Photographer with reference
to On a Distant View of the Village, School of
Harrow-on-the-Hill, Break, Break, Break and
Beyond the Last Lamp

Harry Mills
Mr. Dyer- Causton

Word Count 1744

Harry Mills
The Past is Always With Us
The Subject of Memory in the Poems Piano, La Belle Dame Sans Merci, War
Photographer with reference to On a Distant View of the Village and School of Harrow-onthe-Hill, Break, Break, Break and Beyond the Last Lamp
In psychology, memory is the process in which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved.
Humans can be affected by memory emotionally, physically and psychologically and poets,
D.H Lawrence, Lord Byron, John Keats, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Carol Duffy and Thomas
Hardy use their poems Piano, Harrow on the Hill, La Belle Dame Sans Merci, War
Photographer and Beyond the Last Lamp to explore the different affects of this subject.
Piano by Lawrence portrays a male protagonist experiencing nostalgia as he hears a female
singer, which leads him to reminisce of his childhood. The use of sound recognition and
memory is a common way to lead to nostalgia as it transpires in La Belle Dame Sans Merci
by John Keats. The poem depicts a Knight-at-arms who is recalling a night with a lady in
the meads and he can remember her sweet moan. Another poem, which uses sound
recognition as a way to experience nostalgia is Break, Break, Break written by Lord
Tennyson in 1835 narrating the milieu of a male protagonist who misses the voice that is
still. Another major part to memory is reflection that emerges in Beyond the Last Lamp;
Hardy uses the medium of the poem to advocate the reflection on his life and expressing his
regrets of time. On a Distant View of the Village and School of Harrow-on-the-Hill written
by Lord Byron in 1806 also depicts the use of reflection in its nine-stanza milieu reciting the
juxtaposition of the past and present. Carol Ann Duffy uses War Photographer to create a
harsh light on the destruction and bloodshed that results from War and how apathetic and
uncaring the rest of the world, who are not directly affected by it, is.
Memory is deceiving, as it can affect one mentally and physically but also in a positive or
negative manner. This subject is explored in La Belle Dame Sans Merci as the Knight-atarms is longing to go back to his Lady in the meads for the wonderful time he had. In
contrast, Carol Ann Duffy uses War photographer to express the barriers of emotion, as the
photographer remembers the cries; memories can come back round and haunt in later life.
The use of the camera is a metaphor of the barrier to emotion of the War Photographer; this
subject is explored by the reminiscence of his past time but only coming to the realization of
their pain when reflecting of the photographic evidence when there are no barriers. The pain
that he has to sought approval to photograph, was put into contrast with his own pain,
home again to ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel. This subject reflected the
fact that he could not comprehend the amount of pain these victims that he was publicising
were going through.
In Piano, Lawrence clearly indicates the cycle of the protagonist thoughts in this threestanza poem. The first stanza establishes the milieu, an Edwardian recital, where the
protagonist begins his journey of nostalgia as it takes him back down the vista of years. The
second stanza explores the emotional impact of memory till the heart of me weeps to
belong with the final, concluding stanza in the return to the present and the flood of
remembrance which resulted in emotional consequence of nostalgia. This theme of nostalgia
was also echoed in Harrow on the Hill as Lord Byron explores the feelings of emotional
pain for the past. Unfaded your memory dwells in my breast could signify the constant
haunting of his thoughts. Also a constant theme explored in this nine-stanza poem is the
juxtaposition between the present, compard with the past with the reminiscence of his
precedings acting as his anchor. This mentally unstable character that witnesses a nostalgic
lifestyle regarded himself as a Garrick but was let down to his self-adulation as these
were his dreams of his boyhood. This ambivalent tone portrays an inner conflicted
character that has fond childhood memories, though sad and deserted this melancholic
character neer can forget his past as it dwells in his breast.

Harry Mills
In Break, Break, Break, Lord Tennyson creates a lucid tone of melancholy with the
protagonist wanting the impossible to happen. Irrational thinking can lead to wishful thinking
is the focal theme in this four stanza poem with the character unable to express his grief even
hearing the voice of a sailor singing cannot put his mind at rest with the reminiscence of the
voice that is still. This sense of love of the voice is also used in Beyond the Last Lamp by
Thomas Hardy, reflecting on his life and regrets as the time passed so quickly, he forgot to
hold on and savor it. Hardys use of alliteration, onomatopoeia and pathetic fallacy in the first
stanza descended darkly, drip, drip, drip Shows his constant, yet dragging unhappiness.
This pessimistic tone is also reflected in Break, Break, Break also in the first stanza with
negative colours gray stones. Hardys use of personification brings this four-stanza poem
to life, Caught by the lamp lights yellow glance gives a haunting a dark tone implying
someone is watching over you at all times. The word glance suggests that they are
unimportant and insignificant, only worth a glance in the same direction. This sense of
insignificance is also portrayed in Break, Break, Break as the protagonist is watching over
others but isnt being watched upon giving a sense of loneliness and unimportance.
Hardys use of repetition in Beyond the Last Lamp in each stanza advocates that the
protagonists life is slow and sad, and will continue to stay that way:
Walking slowly, whispering sadly
Just as slowly, just as sadly
Moving slowly, moving sadly
Creeping slowly, creeping sadly
Starts at walking and ends at creeping implies that hes de-evolving as the time passes
also the word creeping suggests that he remains hidden. The poem splits Hardys life
reminiscence into five stanzas, the final stanza situated in the present day is a comparison of
his life in the past which relates back to the theme of Harrow on the Hill- The juxtaposition
of past and present.
Lawrence uses many poetic techniques in Piano such as the three-stanza structure he uses to
express the three stages of his nostalgia, the first stanza hearing the vice which takes him
down memory lane to the second stanza where he relates to himself to the final stanza where
he is back in the present day reflecting the flood of remembrance. Lawrence also uses
imagery to portray visual images of the poet as a child, playing with his mother and the
feelings of playfulness, warmth, and security are contrasted with images of a grown man with
repressed feelings. The images of the protagonist being a grown man are also reflected in
softly in the dusk as it is a metaphor for adulthood and maturity. Also Enjambment is used
between the 3rd and 4th lines to help the reader pause on the sensation of tingling that
the poet is feeling - echoing the tone and action of the strings. These poetic techniques are
also used by John Keats in La Belle Dame Sans Merci with the structure consisting of twelve
stanzas; Keats uses the ballad structure, a quatrain in alternating iambic tetrameter and
trimeter lines, this gives the poem a more deliberate slow movement and also to mimic the
rhythm of a ballad but the fourth line of each quatrain finishes with only three stressed
syllables - emphasizing the break from a natural rhythm - iambs mirroring the beating of a
heart. It might illustrate the unnatural situation the Knight finds himself in - or that his heart is
beginning to fail him.
The use of imagery that Keats provides is important, as it is the description of the milieu and
La Belle. The civilian that encounters the knight describes the milieu. La Belle is defined
as a faerys child as the knights experience with La Belle is depicted as an intimate
moment. The use of juxtaposition is also key to the subject of memory as it is used in La
Belle Dame Sans Merci as the memories of the knight are juxtaposed with the setting summer meadows and bleak winter landscapes and also life and death. Carol Ann Duffy also
uses these poetic techniques to portray the fluctuating lifestyle of the War Photographer.
Allusion is used to the nature of his work as being sacred or holy - that he must make
people face something they dont want to know about - like a priest must confront his
congregation with their sins.

Harry Mills

Carol Ann Duffys choice of diction reflects the violence and misery of the subject matter
she uses adjectives to develop a tone of melancholy and emotional turmoil. Juxtaposition is
key to developing meaning in this poem, which is developed as an idea of where the War
Photographer lives is in stark contrast to where he conducts his business are diametrically
opposed - this juxtaposition between his home and where he works is emphasized by the
symbol of the plane - where he is in limbo - caught between two worlds. This idea of
juxtaposition between his domestic life and his occupation plays with the photographers
memory him always wanting to be somewhere else therefore reminiscing over his life.
In conclusion, these six poems all coming under the subject of memory are used to explore
the painful, physical and mental wounds of nostalgia and melancholy. Lawrence and Byrons
protagonists find themselves haunted by memories of a happy childhood, at odds with their
present feelings of repression and unhappiness. Keats and Tennysons protagonists find
themselves unable to move on from the present circumstances, memory serving to be a
painful reminder of emotional loss. Duffy and Hardys protagonists are unable to break free
from the memory of the suffering of others; bound to experience the feelings of guilt and
helplessness in certain situations. Spanning a range from 1806 to 1918, these six poems
suggest the marginal difference of memory over the years that indicate not much change of
melancholy over years to come. All the poets develop a sense that The Past is Always With
Us and the subject of memory is central to an understanding of their poetry.