Targets:

Use more precise, technical vocabulary

Much more detailed, close textual analysis required.

Close Critical Analysis of Corpse

The title of Michael Symmons Roberts poem is corpse has many connotations;
the first and most obvious connotation for me is that of a dead body which is
the main feature of the poem itself. Another equally important association with
the title corpse is that of corporeality and both the connotation of the dead
body and the aspect of corporeality are closely linked in the poem. The graphic
and disturbing images created by Symmons Roberts represent the grotesque
manner in which all corpses are seen and the very solid and concrete
descriptions of body parts highlight the solid and corporeal nature of the body.
The fact that the body is portrayed here as so solid, so grounded, suggests that
the soul is not in the body anymore and so there is no spiritual aspect to its
form emphasizing the quality of utter corporeality. Corporeality and the aspect
of the soul are important themes of the poem and much like many of his other
poems, Symmons Roberts includes religious imagery particularly the crucifixion
of Jesus. It is through the portrayal of the corporeality that the images of Christ
are really highlighted, which Symmons Roberts makes clear throughout the
poem.

The corporeality of the body is shown immediately at the beginning of the

poem. It begins with the phrase this is my body which not only was the first
line of the Symmons Roberts poem Post-Mortem but was spoken by Jesus on
the last supper. This reference to Christ both predicts the religious nature of the
rest of the poem and foreshadows that a death is yet to come. This is reinforced
suddenly by the fact that the narrators body is lying in a back street, his body
splayed on the roads crown like a shot bird. The violent and harsh sounding
letters used like ck and sp portray the death in a brutal and threatening way.
The aspect of corporeality is shown here by the use of crown and back, even
though these words are used to describe to layout of the road, they are also
vulnerable parts of the body so it shows that although the body is solid, it does
have aspects a fragility, especially without the soul.

The soul and spirit is developed through the rest of the poem. The narrator
claims that his circuitry of soul is broken. The word circuitry plants a
metaphor in the readers mind of an electric circuit. Some say that the body is
nothing without a soul, it would be like a light bulb without electricity and so
the lack of soul has broken the energy and electricity that once animated the
body. This energy, although no longer with the narrators mind and conscious,
still resides in his body but does not act naturally. He strikes the pose of a
twisted star, which is something he could never have achieved in life. This
indicates that there is a strange irony to death that enables him to become
gymnastic and gives him unnatural life and a strange beauty that implies that
no matter how undignified the death is, it can still be eerily beautiful. This
provokes an image of Jesus and how he died on the cross, a very disrespectful
way to die, but the various portraits of him on the day of the crucifixion are still
beautiful thus relating to the narrator of the poem.
This link with Jesus being crucified is referred to in a more obvious way in the
latter half of the poem. The narrator claims that his face is cracking in the sun
and his hands point up and down the street and the way his hands are
pointing plant a very strong visual images in the readers mind; that of a cross
shape. This cross shape brings up not only the image of Jesus on the cross but
also reminds the reader of Jesus sacrifices for the greater good of human kind.
By looking at references later on in the poem, the reader is able to interpret
images of war, particularly the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Not only does the
fact that his face cracks in the sun is an indication of the heat of a middle-
eastern country but the reference to a blue uniform which supports the idea of
war as it is the typical dress of a member of the air force. This links back to the
idea of sacrificing oneself for the benefit of others, much like Jesus who died for
everyones sins. The fact that the blue uniform is mentioned is symbolic of war
but also represents again a concrete aspect of the body, as Symmons Roberts
weaves in the aspect of corporeality throughout. His gut swells a blue uniform,
pregnant with it own ferment. Not only is this image very graphic, but also the
word pregnant suggests an idea of rebirth. This implies that even in death, new
life can be found even if it might be in the most unlikely of places. It is again
the use of a disturbing image juxtaposed with beauty.

The end of the poem is very ambiguous and is littered with caesuras that break
up the lines. I see the caesuras as the delirious nature of death and that
everything becomes slower and less comprehensive and so the form of this
stanza represents deaths confusing nature. Thus far, the poem is confident of
one thing: death. However, there is a conflicting idea of the creation of hope
and the loss of it. There is a voice nearby: this is a hopeful statement for both
the reader and the narrator but it is quickly scuppered in the next phrase not
loud he same thing happens on the next line the sky not bright. This
emphasizes, again the confusion in death, but also the catharsis of life, that
everyone has ups and downs and it shows that this does not even stop in
death. This in itself is a thought full of hopelessness but the last line can be
interpreted as the beginning of something more positive: life. The sky is green
with storms. The green colour can represents many things but for me
personally I believe that green symbolises new life. This supports the earlier
idea of the pregnant gut and also leaves the poem in a positive manner, that
life will come after death.

Word Count: 1064