The tone of the poem is gloomy and saddening. It's about growing old and forgetting.
The first stanza of the poem describes how a poem the subject once treasured becomes a fogged memory that is soon forgotten. The second stanza shows how the memories are still there, however there is no way for the subjects mind to get in touch with those memories unless they are aided. The third stanza shows how the subject soon starts to forget things that are very important, such as information about their state, the address of loved ones and countries the subject loved. The fourth stanza describes the subjects struggle to remember these things, the information being there but the subject unable to grasp it at all. The fifth stanza describes what the subject is feeling, the subject saying it's as though all of their memories are floating away down a dark mythological river (Most likely referring to a river mentioned in Greek Mythos known as Lethe, the river of forgetfulness) that he can't seem to recall the name of. The final stanza is sort of a realization that the subject of the poem needs the help of books and notes to remember dates or anything that has significance to him.
So overall, this poem is the melancholic rantings of either an old man or a man losing their memories though a disease such as Alzheimer.
The first stanza of the poem describes how a poem the subject once treasured becomes a fogged memory that is soon forgotten. The second stanza shows how the memories are still there, however there is no way for the subjects mind to get in touch with those memories unless they are aided. The third stanza shows how the subject soon starts to forget things that are very important, such as information about their state, the address of loved ones and countries the subject loved. The fourth stanza describes the subjects struggle to remember these things, the information being there but the subject unable to grasp it at all. The fifth stanza describes what the subject is feeling, the subject saying it's as though all of their memories are floating away down a dark mythological river (Most likely referring to a river mentioned in Greek Mythos known as Lethe, the river of forgetfulness) that he can't seem to recall the name of. The final stanza is sort of a realization that the subject of the poem needs the help of books and notes to remember dates or anything that has significance to him.
So overall, this poem is the melancholic rantings of either an old man or a man losing their memories though a disease such as Alzheimer.
Toshabi wrote:
The tone of the poem is gloomy and saddening. It's about growing old and forgetting.
The first stanza of the poem describes how a poem the subject once treasured becomes a fogged memory that is soon forgotten. The second stanza shows how the memories are still there, however there is no way for the subjects mind to get in touch with those memories unless they are aided. The third stanza shows how the subject soon starts to forget things that are very important, such as information about their state, the address of loved ones and countries the subject loved. The fourth stanza describes the subjects struggle to remember these things, the information being there but the subject unable to grasp it at all. The fifth stanza describes what the subject is feeling, the subject saying it's as though all of their memories are floating away down a dark mythological river (Most likely referring to a river mentioned in Greek Mythos known as Lethe, the river of forgetfulness) that he can't seem to recall the name of. The final stanza is sort of a realization that the subject of the poem needs the help of books and notes to remember dates or anything that has significance to him.
So overall, this poem is the melancholic rantings of either an old man or a man losing their memories though a disease such as Alzheimer.
Thanks Toshabi, way more in-depth than what I wrote. +Rep
You must like literature, cause you know your stuff. ^^
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I'll gladly +Rep for any help at all. ^^
Thanks!
Forgetfulness
Billy Collins
The name of the author is the first to go
followed obediently by the title, the plot,
the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel
which suddenly becomes one you have never read,
never even heard of,
as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor
decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,
to a little fishing village where there are no phones.
Long ago you kissed the names of the nine Muses goodbye
and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag,
and even now as you memorize the order of the planets,
something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps,
the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay.
Whatever it is you are struggling to remember
it is not poised on the tip of your tongue,
not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen.
It has floated away down a dark mythological river
whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall,
well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those
who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle.
No wonder you rise in the middle of the night
to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war.
No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted
out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.
The phrases sound comical, but the choice of words make the poems seem gloomy, zzzzzzzz.Figured it out.