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Analysis of Disgrace

Synopsis= This poem is centred around a couple who have been together for a substantially long time, so much so that the love between them has grown thin and the speaker of the poem feels like the relationship is long dead. As a result we see the effects 

 Key Quotations and Analysis= 
1.) "A thickening cyst of dust and gloom"

  • Here this poem conveys an immense sense of desperation and desolation within the relationship. A cyst is an abnormality which suggests that the relationship is unhealthy and damaging to the speaker and the fact that it is thickening conveys that the state of their love is progressively worsening and beyond reparation
  • The word choices "dust and gloom" connotes a sense of ambiguity which could imply that the speaker does not know the point at which the relationship began to deteriorate. "Dust" is also old and decaying from which could infer the neglect of love between both partners.
2.) "Bowl of apples rotten to the core"
  • Fruit bowls can be associated with an ideal home, this shows that for a while the couple was able to put up a convincing facade in which their relationship looked healthy, however the interior problems inside the home of the couple caused the facade to rot. 
  • Rotten fruits are also useless to a person, this could connote that a relationship lacking love is useless. 
3.) "Dead flies in a web"
  • Here the word choice "web" may indicate how things like their home and children have caught them in a trap where they cant truly escape each other, making the separation too complex. 
  • This line also implies that the speaker is desperate for a salvation of her relationship, however the fact that it is "dead" conveys that she may have already lost and she is fighting a losing battle.
4.)  "Woke" 
  • The opening to a stanza, it is quite an abrupt start which contrasts the slow moving pace of the poem, this mimics the sudden realisation of the speaker that her relationship is broken. It also mirrors the sharp pain felt that she has lost love/ her partner has lost love. 
  • The fact that it is repeated could suggest that this realisation is a daily occurrence and it hits her with the same raw emotion each day.
5.)  "Dreamed of a naked crawl"
  • This line is filled with nightmarish imagery, this is somewhat animalistic which is ironic as an act of passion and lust should be sexual, not demonic. This shows that the couple have lost love for one another and the "naked crawl" has merely become  apart of their routine.
Links to other poems
  • Valentine= Both poems explore the reality of love and its broken isolating shell if not cared for.
  • Adultery= Both speakers express a sense of bitter resentment towards the decaying of there relationship.
  • Room= Both speakers have a nihilistic outlook on life, they feel isolated by society due to a lack of love.

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