Language Representation Analysis Task

For the task set by Halla, I chose to analyse a poem written by my Grandfather, Geoff Sutton. (which, along with some of his other poetry, can be found here: https://leopardpoetry.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/featured-poet-geoff-sutton/)
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ALWAYS ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN
Geoff Sutton (circa 2012)


I was looking through the window
To see what I could see
But all I saw were my two eyes
Staring back at me
Always on the outside looking in


I wandered through the wild wood
I was looking for my home
I saw you walk together
You saw me walk alone
Darkly on the outside looking in


When I saw the lighted windows
Of any homely place
They pulled the blind down as I passed
They wanted to hide the face
Of someone on the outside looking in


I went on to the sea’s side
I was searching for you there
But all I found were mermaids
Plaiting bladderwrack in their hair
Sadly on the outside looking in


I met a former lover
She said I’ve lost your name
But I know exactly where you are
You’re really just the same
You’re always on the outside looking in


I’ve been strolling through the spaces
Where people used to be
And soon I balanced the me in you
Against the you in me
So inside mirrored outside outside in


The dead live on inside us
I hear them every day
We echo each other word for word
But they haven’t much to say
They’re only on the outside looking in
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As I see it, this poem is a reflection of the poet on several aspects of his life, ultimately determining that the feels detached, or separate from the reality that everyone else around him experiences. It also has romantic themes, or rather, themes concerning the loss of romance, reflection on old relationships, or the loss of loved ones by other means.
The first indication of the themes of this poem come in the title; 'Always on the Outside Looking In'.
The phrase itself shows how the writer feels, that he is not a part of the world that everyone else is, as if he is stood outside a window, looking in on it, unable to attain what he sees. The fact that this line, or a variation of it, is repeated at the end of each stanza shows that the writer is well aware of this, and that it haunts him in practically everything he does.

In the first stanza, the reflective nature of the poem is directly established using a literal reflection that the write sees upon looking through the window. 'But all I saw were my two eyes // Staring back at me'.
The word 'Always' used at the head of the last line shows the infinite nature of the writer's loneliness.

The second stanza has the speaker wandering through a 'wild wood' looking for his home. This may be more symbolic than literal in that the speaker may be searching for somewhere he can be considered 'inside', as opposed to being perpetually 'outside' as he is shown to be throughout.
The 'you' mentioned by the speaker seems, in the wider context of the poem, to be in reference to a past lover. This is furthered by the line 'I saw you walk together // You saw me walk alone'. The term 'together' could be seen as being a reference to a new romantic relationship. Another interpretation of this 'you', could be that of a 'lost' or deceased loved one, or perhaps even multiple people, I personally favour this interpretation.

The third stanza shows that the speaker is an outcast, and is shunned by those around him. 'They wanted to hide the face // Of someone on the outside looking in'.

In the fourth stanza, the speaker 'went to the sea's side // I was searching for you there'. This shows the lengths the speaker is willing to go to to find the unspecified 'you' mentioned throughout the poem.

The next stanza covers the speaker's encounter with a 'former lover', who say's that they have 'lost' the speaker's name. This shows that the speaker's separation reaches such an extent that even a former lover has forgotten his name.

The penultimate stanza has the speaker say: 'I've been strolling through the spaces // Where people used to be'. I see these 'spaces' as the emptiness left when a person moves on, or passes on. The following two lines: 'And soon I balanced the me in you // Against the you in me' could be interpreted as dealing with feelings and memories towards someone you've lost.

The final stanza is, for me, what clarifies the theme of the poem, as well as the state of the 'you' mentioned throughout. The line 'The dead live on inside us' when coupled with the second and third lines of the previous stanza lead me to believe that the 'you' the speaker refers to throughout the poem is a deceased loved one. The second line; 'I hear them everyday' shows that the loss of this person has severely affected the speaker to the point where it is something he thinks about everyday. The next two lines are very profound: 'We echo each other word for word // But they don't have much to say'. This, to me, seems to say that when we think of people we have lost, they are only really echoes of what we are thinking about them, and that because they are gone, they can never again truly speak independently for themselves again. The closing line comparing the dead to the way he has described himself throughout the poem makes me think that the speaker sees himself as 'dead' to the world. I get this impression because, in using this phrase in reference to the dead, he makes it seem as he too is 'on the outside looking in' and has no influence or presence in the reality most people experience.