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Question: How does this poem show "loss"!?
Which phrases show the theme of loss!? And explain how they show loss please!.
The Haw Lantern
The wintry haw is burning out of season,
crab of the thorn, a small light for small people,
wanting no more from them but that they keep
the wick of self-respect from dying out,
not having to blind them with illumination!.
But sometimes when your breath plumes in the frost
it takes the roaming shape of Diogenes
with his lantern, seeking one just man;
so you end up scrutinized from behind the haw
he holds up at eye-level on its twig,
and you flinch before its bonded pith and stone,
its blood-prick that you wish would test and clear you,
its pecked-at ripeness that scans you, then moves on!.
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Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
You often have to understand the background of the poet to understand the poems!.!.!.in this case, Seamus Heaney, the poet, is from Northen Ireland and the Haw berry is an important symbol of defiance against winter, a symbol of the dignity of the Northern Irish, the small people, in the face of violence, the dignity of people in the face of trouble wanting no more than to "keep the wick of self-respect from dying out"!. He goes on to say that "sometimes when your breath plumes in the frost, it takes the shape of Diogenes with his lantern", a reference to the Greek myth of Diogenes, who carried a lantern through the streets in search of an honest man in the light!. The implication is that there is little hope of finding an honest man, especially in the repressed political situation of Northern Ireland!. The entire tone of the poem is that of loss, lost possibilities, fading chances, trying to keep what's left without "blinding them with illumination"!. He wishes he would be tried by the light and found to be that "honest man"!. He often wrote of the loss of his mother, but this short excerpt doesn't appear to reference that specific loss!.
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