My Grandmother S Letters 2 2

My Grandmother’s Love Letters
BY HART CRANE

There are no stars tonight

This first stanza is about memory, the letters aren’t even mentioned.

Key words

But those of memory.
Yet how much room for memory there is
In the loose girdle of soft rain.
There is even room enough
For the letters of my mother’s mother,
Elizabeth,
That have been pressed so long
Into a corner of the roof
That they are brown and soft,

The second stanza is about his memory of the letters. He is saying there is enough room in his memory for his grandmother’s letters.
The letters have been stowed away in the roof, are brown and soft and liable to melt as snow.
Note that he is not holding it in his hand he is thinking about the letters

And liable to melt as snow.
Over the greatness of such space
It is all hung by an invisible white hair.

In the third stanza he is talking about a space. Is this “space” his memory (stanza 1) or the roof
(stanza 3)?

It trembles as birch limbs webbing the air.

This “It” refers to the “space” not the letters

Steps must be gentle.

Again, he is not talking about the letters at all.
And I ask myself:
“Are your fingers long enough to play
Old keys that are but echoes:
Is the silence strong enough
To carry back the music to its source

In the fifth stanza he seems to be talking about music that his grandmother used to play on the piano (long fingers, keys), but if you read it carefully he is actually talking about a silence
(echoes, strong silence). Silence = loneliness?

And back to you again
As though to her?”
Yet I would lead my grandmother by the hand
Through much of what she would not understand;
And so I stumble. And the rain continues on the roof
With such a sound of gently pitying laughter.
“And the rain continues.. With such a sound of gently pitying laughter” Personification?
Can the rain laugh? Is he actually laughing at himself? Sixth stanza. First time that he actually talks about his grandmother.
He is saying that she would not understand. “And I stumble” = make mistakes, mentally or morally?
Again he talks about the rain on the roof 1

There are no stars tonight
Stars - One who is highly celebrated/outstanding, he celebrates his grandmother.
Or relating to heaven, he is thinking of his grandmother in heaven

2

But those of memory.

Now that I’ve done the top analysis, I think the
And memories of his grandmother stand out? rest I did earlier are a
He is using a metaphor here i.e comparing memories to stars. We know that bunch of nonsense :-)
Memory – remembers his grandmother with fondness

stars are light years away and when we see them in the sky, we are seeing something that has already passed, just like memories. Stars are far and come out at night, memories are far / past happenings that we usually think of at night.
3

Yet how much room for memory there is

4

In the loose girdle of soft rain.
Girdle - To circle around, something that encircles like a belt – means that he feels loosely wrapped around by the rain – feels trapped?
I don’t think trapped is the right word. I’m not sure I understand the reference to
‘soft rain’ though. Any ideas?
‘loose’ suggests that he is not tightly trapped.

5

There is even room enough

6

For the letters of my mother’s mother,
Enough room in his memory for his grandmother’s letters
I like that he uses ‘my mother’s mother’ instead of grandmother. It seems softer somehow. I think this is somehow a reference to his mother, any thoughts?
Most definitely, he wanted to add his mother in and show the link of lineage.

7

Elizabeth,
He uses one line just for her name '' Elizabeth''. This emphasizes the importance she had in his life (Kelsey, I agree with you here)

8

That have been pressed so long
Long – she probably died a long time ago, he has been storing the memories for a long time.
Do you think because he uses the word press, he could have been avoiding them?
Pressing them away? Maybe because he misses her and it hurts to think of her
I don’t think he avoided them, but maybe he did miss her

9

Into a corner of the roof
Back of the mind? Yes , i agree.
Into a place that one does not explore often.

10

That they are brown and soft,
Letters are old

11

And liable to melt as snow.
Fragile
I don’t think fragile. When you handle snow to much it melts, disappears. So he is saying that the memories could disappear or slip away if thought of for too long? Also note the comparison of these letters, line 10 they are brown,
Line 11 they are white (snow), which could symbolise purity, peace etc

12

Over the greatness of such space
Vast skyline – heaven

13

Steps must be gentle.
One should be gentle when handling the memories/letters?

14

It is all hung by an invisible white hair.
Invisible – grandmother not there anymore
White hair – old
The ‘it’ he is referring to is it his memories?

15

It trembles as birch limbs webbing the air. (personification – trembles as birch limbs (trembles as tree sticks swaying through the air; humans tremble, not trees)
Tremble – feel anxiety; Figuratively, to be in doubt or suspense
Birch - a stick, rod or bundle of twigs made from birch wood (used for punishment) Limbs - larger branches of a tree; or member of the body (animal or human)
Webbing – forming a web; swaying back and forth.

16

And I ask myself:
Thinking by himself. Rhetorical. He is alone.

17

“Are your fingers long enough to play
She played piano

18

Old keys that are but echoes:
Old keys, echoes – his grandmother used to play piano, but now that she died only the echoes remain

19

Is the silence strong enough
Silence – he feels/is alone
Strong – he feels very lonely

20

To carry back the music to its source
He wonders if she knows how lonely he feels, does she look down on him?

21

And back to you again
He wished she could talk to him and still play him music

22

As though to her?”
“As though” – he knows that it is not possible for her to hear his longing for her, but yearns for her comfort anyway

23

Yet I would lead my grandmother by the hand
Would – he would lead her by the hand if he could, but he knows he cannot

24

Through much of what she would not understand;
The writer thinks that his grandmother would not understand the loneliness he feels. Like all people with depression, he thinks he is alone and the only one feeling this way
I agree. No one knows how you feel no matter how much you try to explain.
Or maybe he wants to share his life experiences with his grandmom, but because they are from different generations, she might not relate or understand him and vice versa. There is much neither generation will understand about each other, yet the love is strong between a grandmom n grandson.
Don’t we all think that our parents and grandparents don’t understand what we are going through, even though they might?

25

And so I stumble. And the rain continues on the roof
Stumble - unsteadily or falteringly; flounder
Stumble- his thoughts are now disturbed / his thoughts stumbles him back to reality Continues – he still feels trapped
Why does he stumble? Does he stumble because no one understands?

26

With such a sound of gently pitying laughter.
Pity - Sympathy and sorrow aroused by the misfortune or suffering of another.
He hears a sound of gentle pitying laughter in the rain (self-pity)
“laughter” – his attempts are hopeless
The sound of rain traps him in time and space.

Background of Hart Crane
Hart was an alcoholic, had a succession of unhappy love affairs with both men and woman. On a voyage home after a period of travel and study in Mexico, he committed suicide by jumping over the side of the ship.
The fact that he was an alcoholic and committed suicide tells us, the reader, that he most probably suffered from depression. He was probably homo- or bisexual; in the 19th and 20th century this was not

accepted by society and was also against the law. He most probably felt alienated, alone and
“different” from other people because of this.

This poem is not what it at first appears to be. The title suggests that the poem is about a poet who remembers, in fondness, his grandmother’s letters to him, but it is in fact a poem about a desperate longing for a rescue from his dead grandmother.

I have done a short analysis on the poem ''My Grandmothers Love Letters''
Love letters could be a his vehicle to the past.
Please advise if I am on the right track.
This poem has 5 stanza’s 6 stanzas. It does not have a specific rhyme scheme and the poem is written in free verse. The effect of free verse as opposed to regular poetic forms is to make the poetry sound like a normal, natural conversation. However this specific poem is not a normal conversation because the speaker seems to be talking to himself. '' And I ask myself “(Line 16)
I think the reason why he has chosen to write in free verse is to put focus on the chaos of his life.

The tone of this poem can be described as calm, soft, delicate, nostalgic and even sentimental. As the poet talks about '' memory’’, “letters”, " my grandmother’’.
I think the tone is pensive. The poem is filled with melancholic thoughts, this is emphasised in the words strong silence in line 19.
I agree that the tone is pensive and the melancholic thoughts (really good words by the way!).
Thanks, can’t take all the credits though. I got it from one of the notes that Chris downloaded of the library. The overall theme of the poem is about the poet finding his grandmother’s letters and the delicate state which he has found them in. It also focuses on his relationship with his grandmother. We can deduct that the poet had a special bond with his grandmother. In line 7 he uses one line just for her name ''
Elizabeth''. This emphasizes the importance she had in his life.
I agree that he had a special bond with her and that is why he used one line just for her name, but I don’t think that the theme of the poem is about the poet’s grandmother’s letters at all. He is pulling the wool over our eyes.
I think that they had a special bond hence the fact that he wishes that she could be with him to comfort him and talk to him. He longs for her. I agree that the poem is not actually about love letters of his grandmother but in fact the letters are his memories of her and the love that came with the special bond they shared. I strongly agree with this.

The first three stanzas are describing the delicacy of the situation and the gentleness and care that needs to be taken while dealing with his grandmothers precious memories.
'' There are no stars to-night'' and '' In the loose girdle of soft rain.'' In these two lines the poet establishes the privacy needed to look so intimately into the past.
The poet makes use of imagery. In line 4 '' In the loose girdle of soft rain'' The poet uses a metaphor.

Rain is compared to a loose belt. The poet also uses a simile in line 11 '' liable to melt as snow'' He is referring to the letters and emphasizing their fragility. I don’t agree with you with regards to your girdle comment; see above my definition of girdle. He feels trapped, but not suffocated.
I am still unsure of that whole line.
A simile is also used in line 15 '' trembles as birch limbs webbing in the air '' This is comparing the delicate and fragile situation of reading these letters and looking into the past. This could also be comparing the state of the letters to his grandmother’s old age.
Again, I don’t agree here. I think this is personification. Don’t you tremble when you cry? Yes, tremble is a human feeling /description. Only something that is living can tremble.
Again isn’t he referring to his memories here? So are his memories trembling “as birch limbs webbing in the air”?
“Tremble: Shake involuntarily, typically as a result of anxiety, excitement or frailty. Be in a state of extreme apprehension. “
Do you know what a birch tree looks like? I went and had a look online. You get a better picture.

Interesting... this tree still cannot tremble.

These are birch branches ‘limbs’.

OK, birch limbs can web the air, but they still cannot tremble. I still think that the old crumbling brown love letters from his grandmother is not the theme of the poem.
Lets read the entire stanza, take note of the enjambment:

Over the greatness of such space
Steps must be gentle.
It is all hung by an invisible white hair.
It trembles as birch limbs webbing the air.
This stanza is not about the letters, it’s about a space.
When you look at the word ‘space’ above, are you thinking of space as memories, or space as place for those memories. Because in this stanza he is talking about the ‘memories’, not the space for it, and the closest thing that he relates memories to are the “love letters”
In lines 10 and 11 he also shows the fragility of these letters, he could be also emphasising this fragility of memories/ letters with birch limbs, because when I see the picture above , I think of it is fragility almost about to break in the wind.
In stanza 4 and 5 there seems to be a rhetorical question format. The speaker is talking to himself and asking himself questions. The last stanza reflects a feeling of self-doubt. '' Is the silence strong enough'' I don’t think this is self-doubt, I think it is loneliness.
I think it could be sorrow as well. Definitely not self doubt.
That is as far as I got with this poem. Guidance would be much appreciated.
Kind Regards
Kelsey Govender (2013-04-30 20:35)

Elizabeth Labuschagne – [e-mail] the blue is my notes
Zahera Balgobind - [e-mail] the bit in purple is my little additions
Eirene Swanepoel - [e-mail]
Jacqueline Hossell - [e-mail]
Clarissa Ettwein - [e-mail] OR [e-mail]
Bianca Minnie - [e-mail]
Tanya Leach (not on Google+ but her and I have exchanged several emails and she is working quite hard at analysing the poems) - [e-mail]
Ashika Gobrie - [e-mail]

Marile Haasbroek - [e-mail] Ill write in this Pink colour

Setting & Time

Narrative/Narrator & Speaker

Form & Rhythm

Tone

Theme

Allusion

Figurative Language, Symbols, Imagery & Ideas

Words, Word Order, Punctuation, Diction & Melody

Sound