The Malham Bird

This poem is clearly reminiscent of the first holiday that Abse and his wife shared together and possibly was written after her death. Throughout the poem a seagull is mentioned 'a love message, as if Dafydd's ghost had sent it' Dafydd could be referring to the famous welsh poet from the middle ages who mainly wrote about love and nature. He could possibly be a hero of Abse's and therefore he could be describing the seagull as a blessing from him. Towards the end of the poem the bird almost becomes less lighthearted. He describes the bird and 'how it took advice, closed it's eyes resolute, when others pecked forbidden fruit'. This could be a symbol for Abse's marriage as it 'stayed' with him and 'the forbidden fruit' could possibly be a metaphor for cheating on your partner and it could be showing that this happened in other people's marriages but not his own. This poem reminds me of many poems by Larkin as it goes into a more psychological meaning towards the end it does not however bring a specific poem to mind as this poem is very personal and not many of Larkin's poems are.