Philip Larkin

Grief

Grief - meaning Summary

Quiet Endurance of Lingering Grief

The poem compares grief to a fire that might burn out and leave the heart at rest, but instead the speaker watches the embers die and attempts to stir a stubborn flint. The effort to revive or dismiss the blaze fails, leaving the bereft heart impotent. It presents lingering, unresolved sorrow through restrained, physical imagery and highlights emotional inertia and the helplessness of mourning.

Read Complete Analyses

If grief could burn out Like a sunken coal The heart would rest quiet The unrent soul Be as still as a veil But I have watched all night The fire grow silent The grey ash soft And I stir the stubborn flint The flames have left And the bereft Heart lies impotent

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