After the Lunch
by Wendy Cope
On Waterloo Bridge, where we said our goodbyes,
the weather conditions bring tears to my eyes.
I wipe them away with a black woolly glove
And try not to notice I’ve fallen in love.On Waterloo Bridge I am trying to think:
This is nothing. you’re high on the charm and the drink.
But the juke-box inside me is playing a song
That says something different. And when was it wrong?On Waterloo Bridge with the wind in my hair
I am tempted to skip. You’re a fool. I don’t care.
the head does its best but the heart is the boss-
I admit it before I am halfway across.
Summary of After the Lunch
- Popularity of “After the Lunch”: After the Lunch is written by Wendy Cope, an award-winning contemporary English poet. It is a wonderful literary piece with the theme of love it demonstrates. It was first published in 2009. The poem captures the perplexing condition of a speaker’s mind as well as her mixed emotions. It explains how she fights to make herself believe that she is not in love. It explains how sometimes you have to hide your innermost most feelings just to go with the flow of life.
- “After the Lunch” As a Representative of Unexpressed Love: This poem is about the speaker’s emotions she tries to hide even from herself. The poem begins when the speaker and her unknown guest are bidding goodbye to each other on the Waterloo Bridge. While parting ways, she realizes that she has fallen in love with him. Despite cherishing a new awakening, she tries to refute this reality. She struggles with her feelings by telling herself that she feels nothing, but her heart continues playing the music of love. After fighting with her consciousness, she reaches a point, where she concludes that love is a positive and life-enhancing experience, and nothing can stand in its way. She also admits and adores the charm of love.
- Major Themes in “After the Lunch”: Love and acceptance are the major themes of this poem. Throughout the poem, the writer tries to convince herself that she is not in love with the person she had just dined with. To ignore her feelings, she tries to fix her attention on the weather but fails. Later, she blames alcohol that perhaps that charm has made her feel different. Unfortunately, the more she tries to rationalize her situation, the more she gets into this new beginning. Finally, she accepts that no rational argument can change a heart full of love.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in “After the Lunch”
literary devices are modes that represent the writer’s unique ideas and feelings. It is through these devices their words mesmerize the generations. Wendy Cope has also used some literary devices in this poem to make it appealing. The analysis of some of the literary devices is given below.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of /i/ in “This is nothing. you’re high on the charm and the drink”.
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /t/ in “the head does its best but the heart is the boss”.
- Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example; “I wipe them away with a black woolly glove; And try not to notice I’ve fallen in love.”
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. For example, “On Waterloo Bridge with the wind in my hair”, “But the juke-box inside me is playing a song” and “the weather conditions bring tears to my eyes.”
- Personification: Personification is to give human qualities to inanimate objects. The poet has personified Jukebox in the second stanza of the poem. For example, “But the juke-box inside me is playing a song.”
- Rhetorical Question: Rhetorical question is a question that is not asked to receive an answer; it is just posed to make the point clear. For example, at the end of the second stanza, the author states the following sentence to emphasize her point: “That says something different. And when was it wrong?”
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from literal meanings. “Waterloo Bridge” symbolizes distance and chaos.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “After the Lunch”
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. For example, “boss/across”, “hair/care” and “song/wrong.”
- Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here each stanza is a quatrain.
- Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows ABAB rhyme Scheme and this pattern continues till the end.
- Repetition: There is a repetition of the verse “On Waterloo Bridge” which has created a musical quality in the poem.
- Refrain: The lines repeated at some distance in the poems are called ‘refrain’. The verse, “On Waterloo Bridge” is repeated with the same words, it has become a refrain as it has been repeated in all stanzas of the poem.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are three stanzas in this poem, each comprising four lines.
Quotes to be Used
The lines stated below are suitable for a lover while talking about his last meeting with his beloved. It can also be used by someone to narrate one of the significant events from the past that always drags him back in time.
“On Waterloo Bridge, where we said our goodbyes,
the weather conditions bring tears to my eyes.
I wipe them away with a black woolly glove
And try not to notice I’ve fallen in love.”
