A Winter Visit

The persona is describing a walk with “her”, who is revealed to be his mother. She is at a very elderly age of ninety and he is worried about her as she is “aged and frail”. They walk through the park where she tells him that she’s “half dead” because of the coldness that winter has brought. When he realises that it is true that she is half dead, he wants to cry but knows he can’t so he distracts himself by telling her about flamingos.

There is emphasis on the local park being cold and deserted. The park, a natural place, is only filled with man-made light. The park is dark and lifeless, so much so that not even peacocks that are full of colour and life “do not screech” (to give the place sound and life) don’t go there to awaken the dead park. The coldness and darkness of the park could represent the end of life. The persona could act like an escort for his mother. She is ninety and could die which is reflected by the park.

The persona questions whether he should tell his mother about how the colours of a peacocks’ tail are made. This could suggest that he is questioning because she is “aged and so frail” which could mean that she may not understand. The creation of the colours is a metaphor – something like colours of an animal is created by something so small. This could reflect his mother. She was made by things that were very small (an egg and a sperm) which turned into something big. This could suggest that his mother has a big personality and a big influence of him and the world that she lived in. This creates sympathy for the persona who has described his mother as someone fantastic and would miss her if she went. The emphasis at the start: “now she’s ninety” stays in the readers’ heads knowing that she is at the end of her life which adds to the sympathy.

The mother is described as a “sibyl” which is a woman who believes she has prophecy powers. This shows that she can see into her future knowing that she is old. It could mean that she is aware of her age and knows she is at the end of her life. She knows that she “would die” which is distressing. “This winter” shows the coldness and could reflect death. This meaning is added to when she tells the persona that she is “half dead”. This creates more sympathy when the persona announces that he knows it’s true and wants “to cry”.

The persona explains that he must not cry. “Only Nothing keeps” shows that significance of nothing through giving it a capital letter which could show personification. ‘Nothing’ lasts forever which shows that everything must come to an end. This reflect on his mother and the persona’s understanding that ‘everything’ includes his mother and she won’t keep for much longer. The persona claims that he is “not qualified to weep” which shows that he understands that nothing keeps. It could also be linked back to the quote: “I inhabit a white coat” which shows a profession, like a doctor who understands the cycle of life and shouldn’t weep because he knows this.

To take his mind off of the thought of his mother dying, he speaks of the “small approximate things” which could mean that although those things are small, they give the mother-son relationship meaning and a purpose. They can bond over small things and appreciate their time left together instead of focusing on the worrying things. The persona chooses to talk about “four flamingos standing, one-legged on ice, heads beneath wings”. The flamingos could symbolise his mother. They are standing one-legged on ice which makes them vulnerable and could fall. There is significance of them with their heads under wings which could mean they are hiding from the world and waiting to be taken away by angels – those who have wings and can escort the flamingos to heaven.

The use of a simple rhyming scheme could show the flow of life and how it goes on. It could show that his mother’s life has been simple. The use of personification shows significance of ‘Nothing’ and adds depth to the loss. The use of hyperbolic metaphors also adds to the loss and pain of his mother.

‘A Winter Visit’ can be linked to ‘Home is so Sad’ by Larkin. Each poem describes the sense of loss and grief and they both use personification to demonstrate this. However, Larkin’s poem doesn’t give a sense of Larkin into it. We get a sense of Abse in this poem because his decriptions of the persona’s feelings are so vivid, we get the hint that the persona is Abse who is connected to his poetry and the experiences his personas go through.