Underneath an Abject Willow
Underneath an Abject Willow - meaning Summary
Move from Loss to Action
Auden addresses a despondent lover beneath a willow and urges movement from passive mourning to decisive action. The poem argues that thought should prompt conduct and that love is available to all life; symbols from bells to migrating geese and flowing brooks exhort the addressee to follow nature’s forward motion. The tone is imperative and consoling, pushing the listener to abandon numbness and embrace fulfillment through purposeful engagement.
Read Complete AnalysesUnderneath an abject willow, Lover, sulk no more: Act from thought should quickly follow. What is thinking for? Your unique and moping station Proves you cold; Stand up and fold Your map of desolation. Bells that toll across the meadows From the sombre spire Toll for these unloving shadows Love does not require. All that lives may love; why longer Bow to loss With arms across? Strike and you shall conquer. Geese in flocks above you flying. Their direction know, Icy brooks beneath you flowing, To their ocean go. Dark and dull is your distraction: Walk then, come, No longer numb Into your satisfaction.
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