The Family
The Family - meaning Summary
Kinship Beyond the House
The poem considers the uneasy kinship between human beings and the wild creatures beyond the home. As animals move near the family's domestic space, the speakers sense that civilization has not erased their shared animal origins. Comforts such as fire and music cannot remove a persistent sorrow: humans have separated themselves from the natural world, yet still remember it and long for reunion.
Read Complete AnalysesThe dark things of the wood Are coming from their caves, Flexing muscle. They browse the orchard, Nibble the sea of grasses Around our yellow rooms, Scarcely looking in To see what we are doing And if they still know us. We hear them, or think we do: The muzzle lapping moonlight, The tooth in the apple. Put another log on the fire; Mozart, again, on the turntable, Still there is a sorrow With us in the room. We remember the cave. In our dreams we go back Or they come to visit. They also like music. We eat leaves together. They are our brothers. They are the family We have run away from.
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