Musical Moments 1 and 2

1)This poem appears to be about a young boy trying to escape his piano lessons and his piano teacher 'the upright piano teacher, knocks at the front door the boy's at the back door' this suggests that he is trying to get a way from the teacher he also 'nimbly scales the wall'. the image is created of the boy sitting inside and 'hearing in the park the pointless cries of children' this is suggestive of him being trapped in his house for a piano lesson that he does not want to take part in. The description 'a coffin of music' could possibly be foreshadowing what is to come in the next poem.

2) This poem appears to be about the death of the afore mentioned piano teacher 'Miss Crouch'. Although Abse states 'your going does not touch me deeply' he is obviously affected by her death and I think that he regrets trying to escape from her lessons 'sounding regret and then again regret'.  He also appears to appreciate her now compared to when he was younger 'you were so unassuming and gentle' which is something that he did not realise when he was younger. He almost seems to have a great respect for her now- more than 50 years later, 'yes, you and the piano triumphantly rising between the clouds higher and higher.'. This leaves the reader with a grand and happy image of this old lady, almost as if she is where she belongs, in a better place.