JAMES K. BAXTER

Elegy for my

father’s father

Author’s Background:

James Keir Baxter was born in 1926, in Dunedin, New ZealandBaxter become one of New Zealand’s finest poets and most controversial figuresIn his short life he produced a huge number of poems, plays, literary criticism and social/religious commentaryHis father was Archibald Baxter, who was one of New Zealand’s better-known pacifist from the First World WarBaxter took an interest in poetry from an early ageHis first collection of poems where published in 1944, when he was only 18He was deeply influenced by the Romantic poets and classical mythology

Author’s Background:

After visiting India in 1959, he returned to New Zealand, deeply concerned with the poor and social inequality – an idea he showed through his poemsHis strong judgements of society were often harsh and were not always well receivedBaxter died of a heart attack on 22 October 1972.

Elegy For My Father’s Father:

Basic – First Impressions:

Different kind of title – very directWritten in past tense – reflectionWritten is second person – author describing the death of someone elseIdea of ‘Death’ – universal ideaPoem is one stanza long (written on two pages but actually one stanza)Tone is dull and slowReferences to nature and waterFree Verse

Title:

Elegy For my Father’s

Father

‘Elegy’A sad and

thoughtful poem lamenting the

death of a person.Lamenting – passionate

expression of grief.

Poem about sorrow and

praiseSorrow for the

death but praise for his

life.

Title very direct. Targeted at one specific person.

Dedicated to father’s father – male dominance

‘Father’s Father’Grandfather not

used. Creates more of a distance.

Distant relationship or generation cycle.

Adds more to the age.

Ideas of poem (general):

Death – natural processRemembrance of the pastGrief/PraiseTimeAgingSkillSeasons – changePhases of life

Unknown Words:

‘cairn’ - A mound of rough stones built as a memorial or landmark, typically on a hilltop. Burial mound made of stones.‘aaronsrod’ – flowering shrub‘sods’ – surface of the ground held together by matted roots‘burning-glass’ – magnifying-glass‘boughs’ – the main large branch of a tree

Analysis:‘He knew in the hour he diedThat his heart had never spoken’

‘He’ – personal pronounUsed to refer specifically to the author’s ‘Father’s Father’

‘in the hour he died’ – didn’t know before of afterPoint of realisation – stuck in a period of realisationLong death – peaceful or painful?

‘ died’ – strong with more impact instead of ‘passed away’‘his heart had never spoken – personification

the father’s father never truly expressed his real feelings or emotionsHe was more reserved and detached – that was his personality

‘heart’ – centre of emotions and essential organ for life“The human heart feels things the eyes cannot see, and knows what the mind cannot understand”

‘had never spoken’ – silenced/unemotionalThe heart has not functioned it part – he underestimated his feelings but realised too lateMasculine character – strong figure linked to the ‘tall tower’

Analysis:‘In eighty years of days

O for the tall tower broken’‘eighty years of days’ – used instead of eight years of life

Each day was unique and a challenge for Baxter’s grandfatherDraws out the time – adds to the distance shown in the title

‘O for the tall tower broken’ – ‘tall tower’ metaphor for life.

Life is a process of different events that help us to grow, physically in height and emotionally to build our knowledge.The floors of a building are the ages of life – the taller the tower, the more experience a person is in life and the older they are‘broken’ – when things are falling apart – linked to the point of realisation‘eighty years of days’ links to the use of the ‘tall tower’‘tall tower’ – alliteration. Added to exaggerate the length of life‘tower’ – usually seen as something strong and sturdy, and characteristics linked to malesWith the addition of ‘broken’ it implies how life is unexpected and can fall apart

Analysis:‘They stood by the graveside

From his bitter veins bornAnd mourned him in their fashion’‘they stood by the graveside/…/And mourned him in their fashion’

The theme of death is present as the author is talking about the burial of his grandfatherThe family members were finding it difficult to mourn for his death as they all ‘mourned him in their fashion’ The family members did not actually know how the grandfather wanted to be farewelled as ‘his heart had never spoken’, he hadn’t expressed what he wanted of felt.

‘From his bitter veins born’‘bitter’ – resulting from grief, anguish and disappointment. Links back to the ‘heart had never spoken’The grandfather felt ‘bitter’ after ‘he knew in the hour he died/…/that his heart had never spoken

Analysis:‘He could slice and build…

On his walking shoulder heldUnder the lion sun’

‘He could slice and build’A more active time in life – active verbs ‘slice’/‘build’ – Prime stage for himAuthor is praising the grandfather for his skill and commitment – Adds a slight more positive tone for this section of the poemLinked to summer – A stage in life where we are most activeContrasts what's on the next slide

‘On his walking shoulder held’ – MetaphorCarrying the load on his shoulders – carrying the pressures of life along with himBeing the man of the family – having to stay strong as the masculine figure and carry more of the load.‘lion’ – a strong authoritative/dominant figureLinked to the ‘tall tower’‘summer’ – season – linked to the life cycle

Analysis:

‘When he was old and blind…He sat in a curved chair’

‘old and blind’ – agingLive is catching up to BaxterCapability to be the strong figure fading‘When’ – past tense – reflection of what used to happen before the grandfather passed away‘sat in a curved chair’Contrasts the active words mentioned in the previous slideAs the time is coming nearer to the cold ‘Winter’ of end, things are becoming progressively slower – the tone is transferred back to being dull‘sat’ enhances the grandfathers incapability Reflects the old age of inability in contrast to the prime age of activeness

Analysis:‘The tongues of water spokeAnd his heart was unafraid’

‘tongues of water spoke’ – personificationAnother person of his conscience talking to him in his dreamsReminding him that all this time the grandfather had been able to keep the emotions bolted in and now death shouldn’t be something to bring them outBaxter’s father’s father was aware of the cycle of life – shown through the various seasonsThis aided his heart to be ‘unafraid’‘water’ also has its own cycle, like the life cycleIt is an essential element for life, like the ‘heart’The ‘heart’ and ‘water’ are both natural aspects of life – Baxter uses these aspects to explain how natural death comes as a process of lifeDespite the grandfather’s failure to express feelings, he was sensitive to his experiences of the natural world around him.

Imagery:The Cycle of Life – Shown through the

seasons which are metaphorically mentioned in the poem.

‘flowering cherry tree’ ‘flowering’ – coming into life/blossomingNew beginning, being re-born, new hopeReminder that beautiful things must be enjoyed and appreciated in life before it is too lateShows the stage in life when we are born and coming into life

‘Under the lion sun’‘lion’ – a strong authoritative/dominant figureA leader – someone others followAgain linked to the ‘tall tower’‘sun’ – summer – a time for growth and developmentRepresents a time of growth and development as humansyouthful days

Imagery:The Cycle of Life – Shown through the

seasons which are metaphorically mentioned in the poem.

The winter world in their hand.’‘winter’ – time of reflectionUsually refer to wet, cold, suffering, destruction, freezingThe end of time and lifePeriod of coldness, misery and deathRemembering the past but also shows wisdom

‘Boughs oh heaven folding’/’leaves the wind had shaken’‘boughs’ – largest branch of a tree – grandfather was the support system of the familyAutumn is the season which things slow down, to enjoy the time remainingA time to appreciate the things in life that remain before winter arrives

Again, the symbols of nature also shows how the father’s father had a keen awareness of the cycle of life – this enabled him to be ‘unafraid’ of death

Structure:The poem is just one stanza long(even though it is on two pages – it is

actually one stanza) The stanza consists of 38 lines

The use of one long stanza represents life as one long process – it is continuous

It starts from the beginning and finishes at the very end – there are no pauses

between life just like there are no gaps between the lines of the poem

The length of the lines have no pattern and there is no rhyming scheme – showing how

life is not structured.It is random with no automatic pattern it

can followThrough the in-depth interpretation, the author has tired to draw on audiences

attention towards the deeper meanings of life, if they even is one

Poems to compare to:

Follower – Seamus HeaneyPraise Song for My Mother – Grace NicholsA Dream – William AllinghamMy Parents – Stephen Spender