The Ashes
The Ashes - meaning Summary
An Epoch of Ashes
The poem depicts a bleak, collective aftermath of destruction, naming various victims and remnants reduced to ashes. It moves from intimate losses—children, crying eyes, ruined shops—to cultural and moral ruins, suggesting widespread social and human devastation. The final line ties the ashen imagery to a political moment, implying a hollow victory in which even the murderer becomes ash. The tone is mournful and accusatory, emphasizing loss and futility.
Read Complete AnalysesThis is the age of ashes. Ashes of burned children, of cold trials of hell, ashes of eyes that cried not knowing what was happening before they were turned to ash, ashes of gothic virgins and small wire windows, ashes of raucous cellars, crumbling shops, ashes of famous hands. And to recount and close the ashen chapter in the victory of Berlin, the ashes of the murderer in his own ashtray.
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