Sumthin

Triste Triste – Daniel Koton

In “Triste, Triste”, Harwood explores the tensions between the creative spirit and the limitations of the earthly. The concept of the artists’ imagination as a separate entity, able to transcend the physical is a rather Romantic one. However Harwood does not limit the idea to only artists or poets in particular; she extends the creative drive to mean individual, spiritual passion. This allows the poem to appeal to a wider audience, as the reader is enticed with the idea of possessing a passionate self. The ‘space between love and sleep” is an intangible time between two definite states of universal human experience. The phrase incites the reader to reflect on such moments in their own life, and to consider “space” with renewed significance. The poignant image of the heart that “mourns in its prison” conveys the idea of the necessity of liberating the “spirit”. The Resurrection imagery provides further significance to the creative self, as it is aligned with the Christ, walking “to Easter light”. Harwood, through her use of personification and imagery challenges the reader to appreciate the indefinite moments of passionate afterglow as opportunity to liberate the imagination. However there is a sense of regret at the fleeting nature of imagination that permeates the poem. “Triste” is an archaic word for sad or mournful; the repetition of “Triste, Triste” in the title connotes Harwood’s lingering reflection on the loss of inspiration. Harwood creates a sense of urgent desire to transcend the “tomb of bone” with the repetition of “away”, yet there is something divorced in the divine imagery that follows. The spirit “walking alone” represents the individual experience in the imaginative world; here there is no intimacy, only the intensity of “unbearable light”. This is reminiscent of the theory of the sublime where the light overwhelms but still holds a magnetism. The mechanical image of the body as “fallen instruments” recalls the...