From looking within the first stanza we see that the persona is afraid of what is to occur of his mother and is seen with the line, "this time afraid". Each time he has visited his mother there has been no fear in seeing her but throughout this stanza we see that she has aged greatly and this causes him some concern. We also the reference of death due to the word "hole" which could refer to being buried and therefore suggests to the audience that with many other members and friends of the family dying, he is scared that his mother is next. We also see her time is limited with the line, "The beautiful face of my mother is in its ninth decade" and also how much she means to the persona with refering her to being beautiful. She is comforting and kind like any other mother is to their child and he is scared of not being able to see that anymore due to her coming close to the stage of death.
When we move into the second stanza we see that he has been told the same stories repeatedly through his visits and we see that with hearing these stories for so long, we see the reference of him aging also with the line, "till I feel my hair turning grey". We also get the link of the mother talking about clocks which could link into how her life is slowly ending and her time that she has left. Although the persona finds it to be dull the audience is able to see that he feels like his time is fading with how his hair is turning old. It almost gives a negative impression of the persona for he is not listening to his mothers advise on spending time wisely and finds this a waste of time with how he sits there answering the same answer each time.
We also get a negative view with the use of the word "perishable" which refers to the audience as things decaying. He then makes the similie of it being like a rugby amateur that collects sovereigns and therefore suggests that to this is a pointless waste of time.
In stanza three we see that he talks of a river within the south of Wales and refers to other family members. We see that he talks of the grandmother Annabella and speaks of her being a great importance with influencing people as she is represented as being "genuine". We also are able to state that this is also another person that is no longer with us and has now died therefore stating the fact that time has gone too quickly.
Finally within the final stanza we see the notion of time changing due to how "bridges that leap over me, then shrink in my side mirror". We see that once something has happened you must continue through life and is represented with the metaphor on the bridges. We also see that his mother is no longer alive due to him whistling a tune that reminds him of her. This links into the poem of Love Songs in Age due to how a small item can remind them of a loved person which is what he is doing. The ending words of "It wont keep" inform the reader that the song will be forgotten as will his mother and they will not remain forever. He is recalling his true feelings of his mother within the song and she is all that is on his mind when making his journey to South Wales.
Other poems that could link to this would be The Whitsun Weddings, Love Songs in Age and also Send No Money. These poems can link into Abse with the reference of memory, loss of time or loved ones and also a journey.
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