Metho Drinker by Judith Wright
CRITICAL ANALYSIS: Explanation, Analysis, Interpretation |
Metho DrinkerUnder the death of winter's leaves he lies who cried to Nothing and the terrible night to be his home and bread. "O take from me the weight and waterfall ceaseless Time that batters down my weakness; the knives of light whose thrust I cannot turn; the cruelty of human eyes that dare not touch nor pity."
Under the worn leaves of the winter city safe in the house of Nothing now he lies.
His white and burning girl, his woman of fire, creeps to his heart and sets a candle there to melt away the flesh that hides from bone, to eat the nerve that tethers him in time.
He will lie warm until the bone is bare and on a dead dark moon he wakes alone.
It was for Death he took her; death is but this; and yet he is uneasy under her kiss and winces from that acid of her desire.Judith Wright | "metho" = methylated spirit (not for human consumption, industrial alcohol)"death of winter's leaves" - mortality"Nothing": personification. The drinker is crying out to "Nothing". homeless."knives of light" - neither the darkness nor the light brings any comfort. "worn leaves of the winter city" - note the winter imagery. Winter connotes ideas of harshness, death, emotional frigidity, suffering. "house of Nothing" - brings to mind images of emotional emptiness, hollowness, negativity, loss. "human eyes...nor pity" - society is turning a blind eye to the addict's problem."house of Nothing" - the addict has nothing (no hope, nobody to care for him, no material wealth)"his....girl, his woman..." metho is personified as a seductive woman. "creeps...heart" - stealthy, deliberate.The sensory effects of metho intoxication are described here: "melt away...bare". This is what being drunk on metho feels like for the drinker."dead", "dark", "Death" - alliteration.The drinker wants to feel oblivion by drinking metho. Metho's damaging "kiss" makes the speaker "uneasy" because it is painful, just like "acid".The drinker is not in
Metho DrinkerUnder the death of winter's leaves he lies who cried to Nothing and the terrible night to be his home and bread. "O take from me the weight and waterfall ceaseless Time that batters down my weakness; the knives of light whose thrust I cannot turn; the cruelty of human eyes that dare not touch nor pity."
Under the worn leaves of the winter city safe in the house of Nothing now he lies.
His white and burning girl, his woman of fire, creeps to his heart and sets a candle there to melt away the flesh that hides from bone, to eat the nerve that tethers him in time.
He will lie warm until the bone is bare and on a dead dark moon he wakes alone.
It was for Death he took her; death is but this; and yet he is uneasy under her kiss and winces from that acid of her desire.Judith Wright | "metho" = methylated spirit (not for human consumption, industrial alcohol)"death of winter's leaves" - mortality"Nothing": personification. The drinker is crying out to "Nothing". homeless."knives of light" - neither the darkness nor the light brings any comfort. "worn leaves of the winter city" - note the winter imagery. Winter connotes ideas of harshness, death, emotional frigidity, suffering. "house of Nothing" - brings to mind images of emotional emptiness, hollowness, negativity, loss. "human eyes...nor pity" - society is turning a blind eye to the addict's problem."house of Nothing" - the addict has nothing (no hope, nobody to care for him, no material wealth)"his....girl, his woman..." metho is personified as a seductive woman. "creeps...heart" - stealthy, deliberate.The sensory effects of metho intoxication are described here: "melt away...bare". This is what being drunk on metho feels like for the drinker."dead", "dark", "Death" - alliteration.The drinker wants to feel oblivion by drinking metho. Metho's damaging "kiss" makes the speaker "uneasy" because it is painful, just like "acid".The drinker is not in