The Malham Bird

This poem, like 'Postcard to his Wife', was written about (and in memory of) Joan Abse, Dannie's wife, after she was tragically killed in a car accident. 'The Malham Bird' explores key themes of memory, love and religion, and obtains a sad, sentimental tone. However, Abse also looks upon the memories which they shared together as times which made him extremely happy, and he appears to feel happiness and gain comfort from looking back upon them. This poem could link to Larkin's 'As Bad As A Mile' as they both refer to the Garden of Eden and the forbidden fruit within the tree. It could also be linked with 'The Whitsun Weddings' which presents Larkin looking upon a couple who are getting happily married. However, Larkin expresses some feelings of negativity towards the love which is shown and acts as an observer looking upon the scene as a whole, whereas Abse gives a much more personal and self-revealing approach which allows his poems to connect further with the audience as he focuses completely on his relationship and the moments which they shared together. Both poets present ideas about rules and how we are constantly restricted.
     Abse himself acts as the persona of this poem, and we are aware by the end of the first stanza that he is talking about his marriage. 'That long summer a clarity of marvels / yet no morning News announced the great world had been reinvented'; the word 'clarity' suggests that Abse still remembers these memories clearly and thinks about them often. These lines also suggest that he wanted everyone to know of their love - it felt so powerful to them and made everything change, yet the world goes on despite the special moment they shared when realising they we 'in love'. Abse also presents a theme of love vs. religion as he exclaims 'you a Gentile and I a jew!'. The exclamation mark used suggests shock - the idea of a Jew being with someone non-Jewish may have appeared unordinary or unexpected - yet they still married each other, implying the idea that love is extremely powerful.
     The second stanza uses strong imagery to create a picture in the reader's head of the fond memory which Abse is re-telling. A tone of complete fondness and love is created in the first line of this stanza, by Abse beginning it with 'Dear wife'. The memory is very positive, and Abse presents a scene of ecstacy as they enjoyed their time together with no worries or cares. If knowing contextual knowledge about this poem, the reader will feel sad due to knowing that Joan Abse died tragically before Dannie wrote this poem. He talks of 'the tame seagull that seemed a portent', suggesting that elements of nature and the world around them seemed full of 'love message[s]'.
     Stanza three shows the memory to be full of intimacy and fresh, passionate love; 'After our swim we lay on our shadows naked, / more than together'. However, the tone shifts slightly when Abse describes how 'two chalk lines kiss and slowly disappear' - this could be seen as him foreshadowing his wife's death, and how she disappeared from him when they were still very much in love. He mentions 'three grandchildren', depicting the vast amount of time that he was with his wife before she passed away, and the important things they went through and shared together, such as children.
     It is in the fourth and fifth stanzas that Abse mentions the Malham Bird. He describes it as 'the malham of Eden' and talks of 'how it took advice, closed its eyes resolute, / when others singing pecked forbidden fruit'. The Jewish legend exists on a myth that The Malham Bird of Eden obeyed the commandment that it would not eat the forbidden fruit, and therefore could live in paradise for eternity. The forbidden fruit could represent the joys of life, such as love and marriage, and by thinking upon this legend whilst recalling memories of his own marriage, Abse could be suggesting that death is restricting him from love. It could be argued that he is implying that for eating the forbidden fruit (for getting married), he is now being punished by the loss of his wife - he is feeling pain and heartbreak, and maybe marriage was a mistake as the consequences are too much to bare. There is certainly a view of rules and restrictions presented in this poem.