HOW DO THE POETS PORTRAY A POIGNANT SENSE OF LOSS IN ‘ONCE UPON A TIME’, ‘PIANO’, ‘MOTHER IN A REFUGEE CAMP’ AND THREE OTHER POEMS?

A loss is defined as a feeling of grief when deprived of someone or something of value (quoted from oxforddictionaries.com). Everyday we experience a loss of one kind or another. It could be the loss of time, the loss of memory, or just the loss of personal belongings. However, these losses are very minor and don’t affect us in a significant way. Many works of literature explore this feeling. In the poems ‘Once Upon a Time’ by Gabriel Okara and ‘Mother in a Refugee Camp’ by Chinua Achebe the heartfelt, negative loss of culture and identity is revealed. Similarly, ‘Catrin’ by Gillian Clarke and ‘Mother Any Distance’ by Simon Armitage, look at the loss of a child along with the loss of identity. The loss of identity here, however, could be argued as being positive unlike the stereotypical view of a loss being negative. Finally, ‘Piano’ by D. H. Lawrence and ‘04/01/07’ by Ian McMillan also explore the loss of a loved one, their mothers. This loss is expressed as a heartfelt and distressing one.
In ‘Once Upon a Time’, Gabriel Okara talks about the loss of genuineness and identity as time passes. He narrates to his son how over a period of time people have stopped doing things with their ‘hearts’ and are now ‘ice-block-cold’. He shows how over time people have lost their authenticity. By contrasting the warm and love-filled word ‘heart’ with ‘ice-block-cold’ inevitably forces the reader to be traumatised as they would favour a friendly neighbour over a hostile one. The juxtaposition is effective as Okara is able to put the readers in his shoes and sympathise with him making the loss explored sentimental for the reader as well as himself.
Similarly, Okara structures the poem in a chronological manner starting with the past and what they...

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...ly making them also feel sentimental about the loss of identity and authenticity. I’m sure everyone has been influenced in one way or another to do something or become something they aren’t. Loss really is something that everyone experiences however the magnitude of each loss is different. ‘Once Upon a Time’, ‘Mother in a Refugee Camp’, ‘04/01/07’, and ‘Piano’ view loss as a negative experience. This isn’t wrong as loss is defined as a feeling of grief (therefore negative) however some losses could be for the better. ‘Catrin’ and ‘Mother Any Distance’ are great examples of this. Though the children are moving away from their parents and will lament at first, they’ll experience new things and learn to stand on their feet. In my opinion, a loss that makes you stronger is good and you should learn from it; however a loss of good qualities should always be grieved upon.