Postcard to his Wife

'The dulcamara of memory is not enough' —> he doesn't just want to remember his wife, he wants to see her again. 

'Make excuses' and 'anything! But come home' in the second and third stanzas sound like Abse is desperate to see his wife and he's pleading to see her again. 

'Cant make Abse's heart grow fonder' could suggest that his heart can't grow fonder for her because he knows that she is not alive and not coming back. 

Down the M4

In the second stanza it sound like his mother is telling him about time ageing him and how he says 'oh dear' or 'how funny' —> it's like he doesn't care because he's young. 

'Till I feel my hair turning grey' —> could suggest that he is only now understanding/appreciating what his mother has been telling him now that his is turning old. Alternatively, could be saying that his mother keeps telling him and he does not care and will continue not to care 'till I feel my hair turning grey'. 

'For I've heard that perishable one two hundred times before' —> suggests his mother keeps on telling him —> he's heard it all before.

First stanza could suggest that all of the people close to him keep dying. 

*contextual knowledge: Abse's wife died down the M4 in a car crash

An elegy for Dylan Thomas

'With rum tourists, inspect his grave' —> suggests the person who's grave it is was famous

'Death was his voluntary marriage' —> death is the only thing he is now committed to. 

'Poor silence sold to that rich and famous bride' —> sounds like his widow sold his story to the press for money, that he worked so hard to keep private. 

'Not even for the sake of love' —> Dylan Thomas was loved by everyone but all of their love cannot bring him back to life. 

Dylan

We see the persona idealise Dylan, and he seems to 'unveil his eyeless staring head' suggests an unnatural look to Dylan and sounds like he may be dead. We can infer from this that the persona is imagining Dylan, because he is actually dead. The persona says 'A heard silence' which is an oxymoron so this could show the personas mixed emotions at seeing Dylan, that he is excited he's seen him but deep down he knows its not real. 

Dylan's life is described as having 'slipped from a cupped hand'. This could suggest that the persona feels that Dylan's life slipped from his hands and you can further infer that the persona feels that Dylan shouldn't have died so young. We get the impression that the persona feels fame was to blame for the death of Dylan through the personification of it in the line 'Dilly, Dilly come and be killed'.

A Sea Shell for Vernon Watkins

The words 'unreal' and 'unearthed' suggest that the person the persona is talking about is no longer alive. The persona remembers other poets 'Yeats' and 'David' in the poem. 

'Darkness stayed in a cave' could be a reference to death and how it inhabits in all of us and comes out when it's ready to take us. 

'Others gone also, like you dispensable' could suggest that everyone is equal and that death takes everyone, no matter what their status in life is. 

Quests

The poem contains a lot of references to Greek mythology - 'Apion' and 'Triton'. It seems that the persona is imagining a life beyond his own, and I think this is further backed up in the title being 'Quests'. In the poem it feels like the persona has an interest in the mythology and is sad to know that he will never see the gods 'no sulking Proteus will rise'. 

Uncle Isidore

In the poem we get the impression that the persona is remembering his Uncle Isidore. In the first stanza the persona seems to 'observe' Uncle Isidore describing him as 'sprawled like Karl Marx' and also as being 'slumped, dead or asleep', which to me seems like the persona is remebering Uncle Isidore as he is no longer alive.

The persona says 'Before Auschwitz, Treblinka, he seemed near, those days of local pogroms, five year programmes' suggesting that like Abse, his uncle was also Jewish so may of experienced being in a German concentration camp. The last part of the stranza it seems that Uncle Isidore looked to God for guidance at this time of his life. 

At Ogmore by Sea this August Evening

The persona uses the word "estuary" which could suggest being part of something bigger and that his father wanted something more in life. This is further continued through the persona saying "My father - who, self taught, scraped upon an obstinate violin" This shows that his father showed perseverance and taught himself something as challenging as a violin. 

Abse could be using pathetic fallacy to describe his feelings when remembering his father and how sad he feels about his death by the line "Darker than the darkening evening". 

The Death of Aunt Alice

The persona is juxtaposing his aunt Alice's vivid, wild imagination of her life with a very orderly contained funeral service. He feels that her personality is not reflected in the orderly funeral she has got.

"sparrows became vampires" could show that she always had a vivid imagination and that she used to make things up to make life seem unexpected and more interesting. 

There seems to be a contrast between her wild imagination and the finality of her death - she's not here anymore - gone forever - this cannot be changed or altered.  

A letter from Ogmore

We get the impression from 'Goodbye 20th century' that time has passed for the persona and the century that he has lived his life in has gone by. The persona references significant historical events that have happened in the 20th century -  'Hiroshima and Auschwitz'. This could be suggesting that the persona is glad this century has gone by as Auschwitz has a strong connection with the persecution of the Jews and Abse is a Jew so it could be him hoping that it would not happen again in the 21st century. 

The repetition of 'Goodbye, 20th century' reinforces the idea of how important this century was to the personas. The lines 'even my nostalgia is becoming history' suggests that the persona's longing for the past is now in the past, and the things he once thought were nostalgic are now considered old.  

'Goodbye, I-must-leave-you-Dolly, goodbye Lily Marlene' suggests that he is leaving people behind in the 20th century, perhaps people he once knew who are now dead. 

Dannie Abse Imitations

There is an immediate link to Larkin's Dockery and Son in the second line - 'my son and I'. This shows that like Larkin's poem, there is a parent and child theme throughout. 

The persona describes her son as a 'chameleon'. This could be the persona saying that her and her son are alike however her son has to change who he is to fit in. Alternatively, it could be that his personality/emotions are constantly changing throughout his teenage years. 

 'my soft diamond' could be the persona suggesting that her son acts big and tough yet inwardly, he is soft and kind. 

'Dreams of some Juliet I don't know' could suggest that the persona does not know about her sons personal life and that he doesn't confide in her all of the time, he keeps some things secret. 

Dannie Abse Return to Cardiff