Out - 2
He dead man in his cave beginning to sweat; The melting bronze visor of flesh Of the mother in the baby-furnace – Nobody believes, it Could be nothing, all Undergo smiling at The lulling of blood in Their ears, their ears, their ears, their eyes Are only drops of water and even the dead man suddenly Sits up and sneezes – Atishoo! Than the nurse wraps him up, smiling And, though faintly, the mother is smiling And it's just another baby As after being blasted to bits The reassembled infantryman Tentatively totters out, gazing around with the eyes Of an exhausted clerk
Out - 2 - meaning Summary
Birth After Violence
The poem presents childbirth as a frightening, bodily ordeal before ending in the ordinary announcement of a new baby. Its images make mother and child seem damaged survivors, while the final comparison to a reassembled infantryman links birth with the aftermath of violence. The repeated smiling of those present suggests a social habit of softening or overlooking the pain and shock involved.
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