We meet and part now over all the world;
we, the lost company,
take hands together in the night, forget
the night in our brief happiness, silently.
We, who sought many things, throw all away
for this one thing, one only,
remembering that in the narrow grave
we shall be lonely.
Death marshalls up his armies round us now.
Their footsteps crowd too near.
Lock your warm hand above the chilling heart
and for a time I live without my fear.
Grope in the night to find me and embrace,
for the dark preludes of the drums begin,
and round us round the company of lovers,
death draws his cordons in.
Summary
Judith Wright’s The Company of Lovers is a poignant poem that explores love, mortality, and the fleeting nature of human connection. It contrasts the temporary joy of love with the inevitability of death, portraying lovers as both companions in passion and fellow travelers toward an unavoidable end.
Key Ideas in the Poem
- The Transience of Love
- The poem begins with a universal statement: lovers meet and part all over the world.
- Love, though profound, is temporary—a fleeting happiness shared in the night.
- There’s an acceptance that love is brief but deeply significant.
- The Presence of Death
- Death is not a distant concept; it is an immediate and looming force.
- The imagery of death’s armies gathering suggests the inevitable march of time.
- The narrow grave represents the isolation of death, a stark contrast to the unity of lovers.
- Love as a Defense Against Fear
- The speaker urges their lover to hold onto them, offering warmth and reassurance.
- Love, even if temporary, provides a momentary escape from the fear of death.
- The act of holding hands and embracing in the dark becomes an act of defiance against mortality.
- The March Toward the End
- The final stanza intensifies the imagery of death as an advancing army.
- Drums and cordons suggest an unstoppable force, enclosing lovers in its grasp.
- There is no escape, only the brief comfort that love provides before the inevitable.
Critical Analysis
1. Existential Reflection on Love and Death
- The poem highlights the contrast between passion and mortality.
- Lovers experience intense, but short-lived happiness, knowing that death is the ultimate destination.
- The awareness of death makes love even more urgent and precious.
2. The Inevitable Approach of Death
- Unlike romantic poetry that idealizes love as eternal, Wright presents love as transient, overshadowed by the certainty of death.
- The poem suggests that love cannot stop death, but it can provide brief moments of solace.
3. War Imagery and the Powerlessness of Humans
- Death is personified as a commander leading an army, creating a sense of inevitability and doom.
- The imagery of marching, drums, and cordons suggests that death is methodical, organized, and unstoppable.
- The lovers are helpless soldiers caught in this larger battle.
4. Love as a Temporary Refuge
- Though love is fleeting, it is depicted as one of the few things that momentarily pushes fear away.
- The poem suggests that human connection, however brief, gives life meaning in the face of death.
Themes
- The Transience of Love
- Love is depicted as a beautiful but fleeting moment in time.
- Lovers find comfort in each other, even though they know separation is inevitable.
- The Inevitability of Death
- Death is shown as a powerful force that surrounds and eventually claims everyone.
- It is unstoppable, and the lovers are aware of their eventual fate.
- Love as a Defiance Against Mortality
- Despite knowing that death will separate them, the lovers find temporary solace in their embrace.
- Holding hands and sharing warmth becomes a way to resist fear, even if only briefly.
- The Fragility of Human Existence
- Life is portrayed as short, fragile, and fleeting.
- The poem suggests that people live knowing they will die, but still seek love and happiness.
Literary Devices
- Imagery
- “Death marshalls up his armies round us now.” → Military imagery, emphasizing death as an organized and inescapable force.
- “Their footsteps crowd too near.” → Creates a sense of imminent danger and doom.
- Personification
- “Death marshalls up his armies” → Death is given human-like qualities, making it seem like a relentless commander.
- Metaphor
- “The dark preludes of the drums begin” → Suggests that the lovers are marching toward death just as soldiers march to battle.
- “The narrow grave” → Symbolizes isolation and finality.
- Contrast
- The poem contrasts love and death, warmth and coldness, intimacy and separation.
- The warmth of the lovers’ embrace is set against the cold inevitability of the grave.
- Symbolism
- Holding hands → Represents unity and resistance against death.
- The grave → Symbolizes the loneliness that follows death.
- Tone
- The tone is somber, reflective, and slightly melancholic.
- While there is love and tenderness, there is also a deep awareness of approaching death.
Conclusion
Judith Wright’s The Company of Lovers is a deeply moving meditation on love and mortality. Through its powerful imagery and lyrical language, the poem captures the beauty and fragility of human connections. It acknowledges that love cannot conquer death, but it can provide a temporary escape from fear.
Let’s break down this poem line by line
Line 1: We meet and part now over all the world;
- Difficult words/meanings:
- Meet and part: To come together and separate.
- Over all the world: Everywhere, universally.
- Explanation:
- The poem begins by describing the universal experience of lovers meeting and parting. This suggests the transient nature of human connections and the inevitability of separation.
- Context:
- The line sets the tone for the poem, emphasizing the fleeting nature of love and the shared experience of lovers across the world. It introduces the theme of impermanence.
Line 2: we, the lost company,
- Difficult words/meanings:
- Lost company: A group of people who are disconnected or adrift, perhaps in the face of mortality or existential uncertainty.
- Explanation:
- The speaker refers to lovers as a “lost company,” suggesting a sense of disorientation or vulnerability in the face of life’s uncertainties.
- Context:
- This line deepens the theme of impermanence, portraying lovers as united in their shared vulnerability and transience.
Line 3: take hands together in the night, forget
- Difficult words/meanings:
- Take hands: To hold hands, symbolizing connection and intimacy.
- Forget: To momentarily escape or overlook.
- Explanation:
- Lovers find solace in each other’s company, holding hands and momentarily forgetting their fears and the darkness around them.
- Context:
- This line highlights the power of love to provide comfort and a temporary escape from the harsh realities of life.
Line 4: the night in our brief happiness, silently.
- Difficult words/meanings:
- Brief happiness: Short-lived joy.
- Silently: Without words, suggesting a deep, unspoken connection.
- Explanation:
- The happiness lovers find is fleeting and silent, emphasizing the quiet, intimate moments they share amidst the darkness.
- Context:
- This line underscores the ephemeral nature of joy and the profound, wordless bond between lovers.
Line 5: We, who sought many things, throw all away
- Difficult words/meanings:
- Sought: Searched for or desired.
- Throw all away: To abandon or let go of everything.
- Explanation:
- The speaker reflects on how lovers, who once pursued many desires, now abandon everything for the sake of love.
- Context:
- This line suggests that love becomes the central focus, overshadowing all other pursuits and ambitions.
Line 6: for this one thing, one only,
- Difficult words/meanings:
- One thing, one only: Love, the singular focus.
- Explanation:
- Love becomes the sole priority, the only thing that matters in the face of life’s impermanence.
- Context:
- This line reinforces the idea that love is the ultimate source of meaning and connection.
Line 7: remembering that in the narrow grave
- Difficult words/meanings:
- Narrow grave: Death, symbolizing the finality and solitude of the grave.
- Explanation:
- The speaker reminds us that death is inevitable and that we will ultimately face it alone.
- Context:
- This line introduces the theme of mortality, contrasting the shared joy of love with the solitary reality of death.
Line 8: we shall be lonely.
- Difficult words/meanings:
- Lonely: Alone, isolated.
- Explanation:
- The speaker acknowledges the loneliness of death, emphasizing the contrast between the shared experience of love and the solitary nature of mortality.
- Context:
- This line deepens the poem’s meditation on the transient nature of human connections and the inevitability of solitude in death.
Line 9: Death marshalls up his armies round us now.
- Difficult words/meanings:
- Marshalls up his armies: Death gathers its forces, symbolizing the inevitability and omnipresence of death.
- Round us now: Surrounding us in the present.
- Explanation:
- The speaker personifies death as a force gathering its armies, suggesting that death is always near and inescapable.
- Context:
- This line intensifies the theme of mortality, portraying death as an ever-present threat.
Line 10: Their footsteps crowd too near.
- Difficult words/meanings:
- Footsteps: The approach of death.
- Crowd too near: Death is close and pressing.
- Explanation:
- The speaker feels the imminent presence of death, creating a sense of urgency and fear.
- Context:
- This line conveys the anxiety and pressure of living with the constant awareness of mortality.
Line 11: Lock your warm hand above the chilling heart
- Difficult words/meanings:
- Lock your warm hand: To hold hands tightly, symbolizing comfort and connection.
- Chilling heart: A heart filled with fear or coldness.
- Explanation:
- The speaker seeks comfort in the warmth of a loved one’s hand to soothe their fear and coldness.
- Context:
- This line highlights the power of love to provide solace and warmth in the face of fear and mortality.
Line 12: and for a time I live without my fear.
- Difficult words/meanings:
- For a time: Temporarily.
- Live without my fear: To experience a moment free from fear.
- Explanation:
- The speaker finds temporary relief from fear through the comfort of love.
- Context:
- This line emphasizes the fleeting but profound comfort that love provides in the face of life’s uncertainties.
Line 13: Grope in the night to find me and embrace,
- Difficult words/meanings:
- Grope: To search blindly or uncertainly.
- Embrace: To hold closely, symbolizing love and protection.
- Explanation:
- The speaker urges their lover to find and hold them in the darkness, seeking connection and safety.
- Context:
- This line conveys the desperation and longing for connection in the face of impending darkness and death.
Line 14: for the dark preludes of the drums begin,
- Difficult words/meanings:
- Dark preludes: Ominous beginnings or signs.
- Drums: Symbolizing the approach of death or danger.
- Explanation:
- The speaker describes the ominous signs of death approaching, creating a sense of urgency.
- Context:
- This line reinforces the theme of mortality, using the imagery of drums to evoke a sense of impending doom.
Line 15: and round us round the company of lovers,
- Difficult words/meanings:
- Company of lovers: The collective group of lovers, united in their shared experience.
- Explanation:
- The speaker reflects on the collective experience of lovers, who are all united in their vulnerability and transience.
- Context:
- This line emphasizes the shared human experience of love and mortality, suggesting a sense of solidarity among lovers.
Line 16: death draws his cordons in.
- Difficult words/meanings:
- Cordons: Lines or barriers, symbolizing the inescapable boundaries of death.
- Explanation:
- The speaker concludes by describing death as drawing its boundaries closer, enclosing the lovers in its inevitable grasp.
- Context:
- This line serves as a powerful conclusion, emphasizing the inescapable nature of death and the fragility of human connections.
Summary of the Poem:
Judith Wright’s The Company of Lovers is a poignant meditation on love, mortality, and the transient nature of human connections. The poem explores the tension between the joy and comfort of love and the ever-present reality of death. Through vivid imagery and emotional depth, Wright portrays lovers as a “lost company,” united in their vulnerability and shared experience of impermanence. The poem emphasizes the power of love to provide temporary solace and connection, even as death looms ever closer. Ultimately, it is a reflection on the fragility of life and the enduring human need for love and connection in the face of mortality.
