Question- Do Vladimir Holan through the poem 'Meeting in a Lift' and Jaan Kaplinski through the poem 'A Last Cloud' interpret loss in the same way ?

Two personal experiences on loss are expressed, quite diversely, through the two poems. Vladimir Holan's "Meeting in a lift" is a poem interpreting a small and short life against great and immortal human desires, whereas Jaan Kaplinski's "A Last Cloud" decodes loss as a part of nature's renewal system. Both poems deal with loss, perhaps the theme evoked by the poets' cultural backgrounds; Holan is Czech and Kaplinski is Estonian- both countries have experienced the loss or invasion of their country.

A first reader of the poem will probably notice the outer layers of the poem, and observe that Holan's observation of loss relative of the human behaviour, which contrasts to Kaplinski, whose portrayal of loss is mediated through nature.

Holan describes a chance meeting of a man and woman in a lift, a situation dreaded by many. The setting itself creates a restless mood, an awkward situation and a feeling of uneasiness. The poem starts with;

We stepped into the lift.

The first part of the line is almost neutral and suggests a chance to experience or find something new. He then continues...

The two of us, alone.

The word in bold is the first negative hint of the poem. Alone suggests negativity because it is often translated as an absence of companionship. The poet did not have to take the fact that being alone means being lonely. He had a choice to make the best of this chance meeting wherever he wished, where anything can happen between them. Holan then expresses his feelings...

Two lives, a moment, fullness, bliss.

A positive mood is created and the poem is full of hope. A moment, fullness and bliss are words which the poet chose to suggest a sky-high point of happiness, or an extremely positive feeling a human feels which is often hard to explain. Following this, the next line abruptly ends the hope, like dropping an apple before you've even grabbed it from the tree:

At the fifth floor she got out and I went on up

Knowing I would never see her again,...

Here the poet changes his use of punctuation. In the first part of the poem where things were neutral/positive he used very short sentences. This suggests both sudden happenings and a confidence to take risks and chances. From the start of the fourth line until the end is one sentence, using only a few commas. This suggests wariness and the poet's descriptive writing shows the man's agitation, his love is slipping away from him.

The man and the woman go their separate ways and again he had a chance to follow her but he has a negative atittude towards this. He mentioned that if he followed her he would be like...

a dead man in her tracks

and that if she came after me

it would only be from the other world.

So, in the end, the man is alone and he described his state simply as being dead. It was as if he surrendered to the mechanism of the lift; he let it take her away from him. Here the poet is trying to portray the reverse relationship between human's desires and the forces around him, that sometimes drag a person into inexplicable situations in which a person cannot fight out. The words that the poet used (dead and if she came) give a very negative feel to the end of the poem. The poet declares that he is a dead man in her tracks, this shows that he has no hope in the attempt to follow the woman. He was pessimistic about the woman following her, mentioning that if she did, it would only be from the other world. It is reasonable for the man to declare that he is a dead man because it human nature to have desires and expectations. His loss of hope in the woman shows that he has neither desires nor expectations, which leaves him feeling lifeless and inhumane (and therefore dead).

Kaplinski's A Last Cloud looks at loss from a different perspective. The poet uses elements of nature to express his sense of loss:

A last cloud moves across the sky from west to east.

A last bee alights on the flight board of the hive.

Although the world last is negative, suggesting an end, the first two lines suggested an ending as a positive thing; the moving of the cloud from west to east shows that it is moving toward light, where the sun is rising in the east. The cloud meets the light and the bee flies back home, but in the fourth line the poet seems to question why some of things he sees need to 'end' and 'go home'.

I see only its hurrying silhouette

Against the background of the sky, and a swaying branch

There where it vanished. Has it a nest there?

The words silhouette and swaying branch creates a gloomy atmosphere because silhouette suggests darkness and shadows and branches sway from the cold wind. Although the negative ideas suggests the poet's disappointment and pessimistic views towards loss, there is a dramatic contrast in the sixth line: vanished and nest. The poet uses the word vanish to show an absolute end/loss but then he questions if there is a nest, showing hope. The poem continues to incline positively...The poet believes in the natural world, that there is all there is. He doesn't believe in a spiritual world, but this does not mean that he doesn't seek consolation. He finds consolation in the world that he sees:

The voice of the corn crake comes nearer and nearer...

they will meet one another tonight. Maybe tomorrow night.

In the end, the poet affirms his hope and belief in the natural world; what he can see with his eyes is all there is. He doesn't believe in a spiritual world, but this does not mean that he doesn't seek consolation. He finds consolation in the world that he sees; in that sense he is an existentialist.

Both poets react to loss positively because both poems show a sign of hope; a light at the end of the tunnel. Although both poets seeked consolation, they deal with loss in very differently. Holan's poem takes you on a journey because the setting is in a lift, where things that happen are bound to the lift movements, one or the other. In both cases, the poets' problems have a root in their expectations. Not getting what you expect leads to disappointment; sometimes one doesn't see the world as it is, but hopes or wishes it to be a certain way. Jaan Kaplinki's poem shows a lesser amount of disappointment because he didn't have superficial (or hopes that come from human desires) expectations, only expectations of the world he sees. Although, he was at times confused at the thought of loss, of why things had to go home.