"Western wind, when will thou blow?" A man, standing in the open. Time stands still. The background, the scenery, the world melts away. There is nothing left. Breathe in, breathe out. All he can hear is his breathe; slow and gentle. He slowly blinks. He keeps his eyes closed. Everything is black and white. There is no noise, no life, no existence. Slowly, a slight sensation descends upon him, pulling him out of nothing. A gentle touch tickles his neck, tousles his hair. It grasps his attention, his being. Slowly, he opens his eyes. His temperature rises. This magical warm breeze draws near, encompasses his body; his soul. It is the breath of an angel. It consumes his essence. He is momentarily brought back to his love, his life. The scenery returns. His life returns. Everything is how it should be. Everything is right, just for a moment. He feels invincible, he can do anything. Perfection. And then, as quickly as it came, the feeling is gone. The scenery slowly drops away, color is no longer present. The sparkle is no longer alive. His bleak reality sets in. She is gone.
"The small rain down can rain." A small, gentle washing; cleansing of the soul. Warm, spring showers. It comes. This tender gift from above brought down to replinish earth, bring life. The grass grows, flowers bloom, spring is born. Others rejoice, life is beautiful. But it does not work. Life does not come. It does not transform him. His world is not a reality. His love is not alive. He is not alive. The small rain can purify the land, wash away all of life's impurities. But he is still there. He is alone, with his only company being empty walls and a hollow heart.
"Christ, that my love were in my arms," A man, on his knees, pleading with the world. Pleading for all that he has lost. Please, from heaven above, I need the wind. I need her. I need my love, my life, my everything. I need her, in my arms. Forever. He looks towards the sky, towards the West. Please, I beg of you. In his desperate state of mind, nothing else matters. Everything else melts away. The only thing left is him and his prayers. Prayers for forgiveness. Prayers to have her back in his arms, his world.
"And in my bed again." Together. The centerpoint, the axis, the core of his existence. The median of his desires. Memories. Memories of the past, present, and future. The focal point of his needs, his yearnings, his cravings. It eats away at his heart, his soul. The bed; the peak of their love. The hub of their life together, unified as one. Please, bring her back. Even if just for a moment. A moment with her is better than a lifetime of regret, of emptiness, of nothing. Western wind, when will thou blow?
See my note under "What's Got Me Responding". Well done.
ReplyDeleteYour commentary on this poem is poetic in and of itself. Very enjoyable. It shed some light on this poem, not through blatant picking-apart analysis, but by revealing the simple human feeling and truth behind each line. I've always loved this little poem for the way it brings together a whole lot of feeling into only four short lines. I ended up not commenting on it, because there was nothing to "figure out" about it, but I realize after reading your rumination on it that that's not the point.
ReplyDeleteI loved reading your rumination on this poem! I feel like you made the poem so much easier to relate to through your commentary. You really broke it down and described each line from a place that is basic and human- I think anyone would be able to relate to this poem with the type of description you provided. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThis is incredibly written. Through your explanations and ellaborations the true meaning of this poem is shown. As Joanna said, I didn't think about writting about this poem because I thought the meaning was clear but through your creativity the poem is explained. Your rumination brought me in and allowed me to really understand this poem.
ReplyDeleteI didn't ruminate this week because I was so unsure about what I was actually going to say...unlike you! I'm beyond impressed and love how you choose to do this for your rumination! I love how I was able to relate to this in ways that I didn't relate to the poem itself upon reading it for the first time. This is so creative, I loved it/wish I thought to do something like it!
ReplyDeleteWow! This was so intriguing and interesting to read. I honestly enjoyed reading your rumination more than I enjoyed reading the poem at first. Your in depth analysis of each line really makes sense and clarified the meaning to me. Thanks! Now that I understand the concept, I find it very easy to relate to and again, this poem talks about the sadness that love has, but it also is very realistic. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI love the way you went about this. Not only is the whole thing remarkably creative and actually FUN to read, but because you broke down the poem into segments and thoroughly described the imagery in each part, you made the poem easier to understand. "Western Winds" is such a brief piece, but I think you've proved that a lot can be contained in just a few lines of poetry. Also, the way you've described each lines imagery gives the poem a plot line while simultaneously showing how you personally interpreted to poem. I agree with your images, particularly the closing one with the line "and in my bed again". When I first read this poem, I saw that closing line as a little snarky, something tacked on the end, as though the author, in typical "frat boy" mode, would write this lovely and longing piece, and then remind the reader that hey, he wants to (for lack of better terms) bang this girl too. After reading your rumination, I've revised my way of thinking about that last line, though part of me still finds it a little funny in the most immature sense, like this guy can't wait to get back to his lover because he loves her, of course, but also because he is a guy and wants her in bed. Overall, I wish I had thought to do something like this!! Good job.
ReplyDeleteI loved the commentary you wrote for this poem because it was like reading a poetic short story of the man who wrote the poem. It was wonderfully written prose and it brought up all the more imagery in my mind when I was reading through your analysis of each line. Your rumination made the poem a lot clearer and seem to have a lot more depth then it did originally. This was really unique and interesting; way to go ^_^
ReplyDelete'Western Wind" is a bit intimidating in its brevity. The four short lines are so dense with meaning that it is easy to lose some of it. I think the way do did this post is perfect. This is the only true way to understand this poem, by taking it line by line and then looking at the piece as a whole. I particularly loved the part you did about line two, which when I first read it confused me a little. Excellent Excellent Excellent post.
ReplyDeleteIf this short poem were to be turned into a short story, I believe you just wrote its outline. This was a bold undertaking, but I think you did a beautiful job embellishing this short poem and saying what the speaker meant to get across in their few words. I have to say when I read Western Wind, I hardly considered writing a rumination on it, how could I, its only four lines? But I loved how you did not discuss the symbolism, structure or the style, but merely pulled from the poem a feeling and worked with it. This rumination is a masterpiece!
ReplyDeleteMy mind is completely blown. There truly is no comment I can make to compliment this work to my fullest extent. Whenever a piece of work appears such as this, I am taken aback by the creativity and gusto that, to be honest, I forgot people were able to muster. Using the only four lines of the poem, you dissected and explicated a unique meaning without the use of "This line means X" or "This line alludes to Y". Not only that, but off of four simple lines, you created a story that exists without the need of the poem you eclipsed. Remove the quotations, and this rumination proudly stands on its own two legs as a grand example of imagery incarnate. I very eagerly look forward to your next rumination!
ReplyDeleteWow! I really like how thought out this is. I didn't put much thought into this poem, initially, it being only four lines long. But after reading your rumination, I definitely went back and crafted my own interpretation. Now I have a lot more questions - what inspired this poem? What is going on in the background? Why is his (or her...?) love gone? Is the narrator male or female? Thanks for inspiring thought!
ReplyDeleteErin -- beautiful Rumination! The poem is so very brief, but your description of it really made me consider it in a different, more artisic kind of way. I am once again reminded, that the economical use of words is sometimes the most effective -- it gives the audience the opportunity for active participation through their own interpretations. Your creative writing really brought some passion to the poem for me, thanks!
ReplyDeleteThis is a BEAUTIFUL rumination! Instead of picking apart the imagery piece by piece like a surgeon, you explained the imagery in poetic language. It could have gone really wrong, but it was gorgeous, entertaining, and really well-written! It was fun to read and really gave me another perspective on the poem. I especially liked the last paragraph. For something meant to simply explain imagery, your rumination was poignant in and of itself. Well done!
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