Song Meaning

The poem opens with a stark image: a "flowerless" marker on a grave as the "day's almost done." This sets a bleak, somber scene. The speaker stands above his father's grave, admitting to a recurring, "awful pilgrimage" fueled by "rage." This isn't a peaceful remembrance; it's an act of defiance and pain directed at a father who "tore his page out," suggesting a deliberate severing of connection or a life cut short by self-destruction. The central tension arises from the speaker's inability to find peace or "indifference." He describes his father as a "dreadful banker" who "shot his heart out," a blunt, almost accusatory detail. The speaker's visceral reaction, moaning and raving, reveals a deep-seated anger and a desperate desire to understand or confront the father's actions, even in death. He wishes he could "scrabble till I got right down / away down under the grass." The most striking element is the violent fantasy of desecrating the grave. The speaker imagines axing the casket open "to see / just how he's taking it," a raw, almost childish impulse to confront the deceased. This culminates in the chilling image of "Henry / will heft the ax once more," a repeated action that suggests a cycle of destructive confrontation. The finality of "fell it on the start" implies a desire to obliterate the origin of this pain. This poem's power lies in its unflinching portrayal of unresolved grief and rage. The stark imagery, the raw emotional outbursts, and the violent fantasy create a visceral experience for the reader. It captures the destructive force of anger when directed at a source of profound hurt, especially when that source is a parent who is now irrevocably gone.