Uncle Isidore - Dannie Abse

From within the first stanza of this poem we are able to see that the persona is seeing various things and people that remind him of his Uncle Isidore. We get this from the word "observe" and as we continue through the stanza we see that his status is observed with the similie of "sprawled like Karl Marx". From this we see that Uncle Isidore is portrayed to be like a memorable person within history. This links into the poem For Sydney Bechet for he was also a memorable figure towards people. As we continue through this stanza we see that Abse is not positive towards his Uncle and places him as being "smelly, schnorror and lemon-tea bolshevik". From this rule of three we see that there is a negative approach for he is placed as a begger and unattractive by the persona.
The notion of him being a begger is supported with the phrase, "slumped, dead or asleep". This suggests to the audience that he is lazy and doesnt do a lot of things which could link to him as being this begger, or even a tramp.
As we move on to stanza two we see more links into historical events throughout time. From the phrase, "Before Auschwitz, Treblinka, he seemed near, those days of local progoms, five year programmes". Throughout this phrase we see continuous elements of historical notes which could relate towards the time of the second World War and the various links to the Russian Revolution. From this we can link to the poem MCMXIV due to it talking about war and its significance. They are both appearing to show various elements of being historical but from different times.
Later on within this stanza we see that this poem is also placed on beliefs with the line, "Have you no shame, compassion? Don't you care at all?". From within this line we see that the persona is stating to us that Uncle Isidore is guesting his views to God. It seems as though he is beginning to doubt everything that he stands for or is arguing against his God for not caring due to what is happening. This could link into the text of the second World War and the building of the concentration camps where many Jews died, this therefore could link to the fact that like Abse, his uncle was a Jew too.
We then see that his Uncle grows into a powerful speaker with the line, ""What difference between the silence of God and the silence of men?" showing people that they are able to stand up for what they belief in and not rely upon God to do something. This poem can therefore link into the various short poems created by Larkin which portrays his views and beliefs within God. For example the poem Nothing To Be Said by Larkin portrays to the readers the sense of death and no matter what you do you will die. This links into Abse' poem due to how it reflects on the amount of deaths that occured within the second World War from troops, innocent people, but also the Jews within the camps. We then a get a change in scenery with this notion of the sky changing and a "serious rain" beginning to fall. We get the notion that due to Uncle Isidore's outburst we see that he has not only angered people that have heard his remark, but also the reference of him angering God.
Finally within the final stanza we see that there is a notion that Uncle Isidore is really dead and this could just be a memory from the persona with how it shows us the arrival of the doctor. Also within the end of this poem we see that he is placed as being wild due to how he is playing the violin and plays towards God once more.