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| Charles Courtney Curran |
When March Blows
When March blows, and Monday's linen is shown
On the goose berry bushes, and the worried washer alone
Fights at the soaked stuff, meres and the rutted pools
Mirror the wool-pack clouds, and shine clearer than jewels
And the children throw stones in them, spoil mirrors and clouds
The worry of washing over; the worry of foods,
Brings tea-time; March quietens as the trouble dies.
The washing is brought in under wind-swept clear skies.
Ivor Gurney
I like this poem for several reasons; 1. It's talking about the days when dirty laundry was washed in a stream (mere, or pool), pounded against a rock, and then spread out on the bushes and grass to dry in the sun, 2. I like that word "mere", and that phrase "wool-pack clouds", a modern poem with old words like this has flavour and texture where it would otherwise be flat, and 3. I like how the unsettling March wind is a metaphor for the pressures and worries of a woman (I know it doesn't say it's a woman, but come on, we all know it's a woman doing the laundry and making supper) trying to accomplish the tasks of the day "alone" (an important point). The word "worry" is used three times. Wind worries the linen on the bushes, and the woman is worried by work; but then, "the trouble dies", "the washing is brought in", and the sky is clear. I love that. It's another way of saying "hold on, keep going, this will pass" and as a woman alone with a lot of my work, I need to hear that.
I like this poem for several reasons; 1. It's talking about the days when dirty laundry was washed in a stream (mere, or pool), pounded against a rock, and then spread out on the bushes and grass to dry in the sun, 2. I like that word "mere", and that phrase "wool-pack clouds", a modern poem with old words like this has flavour and texture where it would otherwise be flat, and 3. I like how the unsettling March wind is a metaphor for the pressures and worries of a woman (I know it doesn't say it's a woman, but come on, we all know it's a woman doing the laundry and making supper) trying to accomplish the tasks of the day "alone" (an important point). The word "worry" is used three times. Wind worries the linen on the bushes, and the woman is worried by work; but then, "the trouble dies", "the washing is brought in", and the sky is clear. I love that. It's another way of saying "hold on, keep going, this will pass" and as a woman alone with a lot of my work, I need to hear that.
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