The 7th of my students' offerings:
At Ogmore-by-sea this August evening is a poem exploring the
ideas of the rhythmic settings of music, show business and a storm. Personally, I believe the poem is a personification of a storm commencing,
expressed through the highs and lows of music but also the sense of magic in
the way that it changes/effects all.
The first stanza begins with the somewhat calmer setting,
where it is compared with the “obstinate violin” showing the flowing/softness
of the notion of the river, which is introduced through the “estuary”. The
“estuary” symbolising the beginning into the journey into the sea, one of which
his father potentially embarked upon (could be a symbol of death). The tone set in this stanza is
atmospherically created through the setting of the evening, where it appears to
be "darker than the darkening evening" the pathetic fallacy used to
create an eary sense to this calming stanza, creating a juxtaposition between
the two. A spiritual sense is introduced with the violin and violinist becoming
"unified" to a sense of completing one another.
The second stanza's tempo becomes more upbeat, the sense of
"such power" creates a build up of an omnipotent spiritual flow
throughout each sentence. The power is influenced in the motif of the music,
where it "summons the night", tying in with the idea of the
"darkening evening". Some would see it as romantic, but looking into
the meanings of the poem, it appears to be more of an elegy to Abses own
father. The notion of moving further
forward is created with the pronoun "prow", but heading into a
"pale familiar" could this be suggesting death again? A pale, being
linked to light and some say when you die you 'go to the light', but this isn't
the end of this metaphoric journey.
The third stanza is silent, in this one the music has
stopped and in the composure of music it could be the scene building up the
suspense for the grand finale. It shows how the "tides in" and
"no foghorns howl", comparing the horn to a dog when it mourning
howl. Our persona, is either here having a spiritual sense to that he can see
his father, maybe it's the memory of being in his £favourite place" and
the silence of this stanza is reflecting on the silence of death and the
afterlife. Abse has a phase of reminiscing about his father, which is somewhat
like Larkin does with his own mother.
The final stanza, is the big finale, where the
"senseless conjuration" is enhanced throughout it- with the
metaphoric use of the verb, the persona continues to "wipe my smile
away", as he witnesses "his steleton stands" as this
"carnival" "spotlight fails", showing the end of the
journey and death. The personified shock of the "lighthouses"
conversation, which is in comparison to "of the tumult the sea",
which is the loud, confused noise especially cause by a large mass of people,
which could also be the sea of souls, that this metaphoric storm has taken with
it.
