At Grass

The eye can hardly pick them out From the cold shade they shelter in, Till wind distresses tail and main; Then one crops grass, and moves about - The other seeming to look on - And stands anonymous again Yet fifteen years ago, perhaps           ----> passage of timeTwo dozen distances sufficed To fable them : faint afternoons Of Cups and Stakes and Handicaps, Whereby their names were artificed To inlay faded, classic Junes - Silks at the start : against the sky ----> sibilance ( s sound = speed)Numbers and parasols : outside,     ---> classSquadrons of empty cars, and heat, And littered grass : then the long cry Hanging unhushed till it subside To stop-press columns on the street. Do memories plague their ears like flies? They shake their heads. Dusk brims the shadows.    ---> encroaching deathSummer by summer all stole away, The starting-gates, the crowds and cries - All but the unmolesting meadows. Almanacked, their names live; they Have slipped their names, and stand at easeOr gallop for what must be joy, And not a fieldglass sees them home, Or curious stop-watch prophesies :    ---> no pressureOnly the groom, and the groom's boy, With bridles in the evening come.̣ ----> easy death

Appeal to the senses : 'The eye can hardly pick them outFrom the cold shade they shelter in,Till wind distresses tail and mane''Squadrons of empty cars, and heat,And littered grass : then the long cryHanging unhushed till it subside'

Unusual verbs : 'fable''brim''almanac'

Imagery :'Silks at the start : against the skyNumbers and parasols : outside,Squadrons of empty cars, and heat,And littered grass''The eye can hardly pick them outFrom the cold shade they shelter in, Till wind distresses tail and mane'

Humour / light-heartedness : 'Do memories plague their ears like flies?They shake their heads'

Passage of time : 'Yet fifteen years ago, perhapsTwo dozen distances sufficedTo fable them''Summer by summer all stole away,The starting-gates, the crowds and cries - All but  the unmolesting meadows.Almanacked, their names live'

Death :'cold shade''dusk brims the shadows''Only the groom, and the groom's boy,With bridles in the evening come'

Escape :'Unmolesting meadows''Have slipped their names, and stand at ease'Or gallop for what must be joy,And not a fieldglass sees them home,Or curious stop-watch prophecies'

passage from freeedom in childhood to responsibility in adulthood and freedom again in old age :'...faint afternoonsOf Cups and Stakes and Handicaps,Whereby their names were artificedTo inlay faded, classic Junes''...Dusk brims the shadows.Summer by summer all stole away,The starting-gates, the crowds, the cries - All but the unmolesting meadows''Have slipped their names, and stand at ease,Or gallop for what must be joy, And not a fieldglass sees them home, Or curious stop-watch prophecies :Only the groom, and the groom's boy,With bridles in the evening come.'

Care-free / contentment'stand at ease''gallop for what must be joy'

Fashion / wealth / media interest'...faint afternoonsOf Cups and Stakes and Handicaps''numbers and parasols''squadrons of empty cars''stop-press columns''almanacked, their names live.'

language to emphasise changes in time :'faint afternoons''anonymous --> almanacked, their names live''faded, classic Junes''Summer by summer all stole away'

At Grass

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