Quarantine  

Quarantine

 By Eavan Boland

In the worst hour of the worst season
of the worst year of a whole people
a man set out from the workhouse with his wife.
He was walking—they were both walking—north.

She was sick with famine fever and could not keep up.
He lifted her and put her on his back.
He walked like that west and west and north.
Until at nightfall under freezing stars they arrived.

In the morning they were both found dead.
Of cold. Of hunger. Of the toxins of a whole history.
But her feet were held against his breastbone.
The last heat of his flesh was his last gift to her.

Let no love poem ever come to this threshold.
There is no place here for the inexact
praise of the easy graces and sensuality of the body.
There is only time for this merciless inventory:

Their death together in the winter of 1847.
Also what they suffered. How they lived.
And what there is between a man and woman.
And in which darkness it can best be proved.

Summary of Quarantine

• Popularity of “Quarantine”: The poem “Quarantine” by Eavan Boland, an Irish academic, author, and poet, is an excellent poetic piece. The poem first appeared in New Collected Poems in 2008. It shows the poet’s mastery over evoking past events, connect imaginary love stories, and making them relevant to the present. The uniqueness of the poetic rendition, however, lies in the strong nationalistic sentiments of the poet as she has mentioned the love during the famine to make the loving couple stay in readers’ memories forever.
• “Quarantine” As a Representative of Love during Disasters: The poet opens the poem, showing how an entire nation faced the worst time of the worst history during its worst year. Yet, during those times couples not only showed grit and resilience but also love and intimacy. The poet presents an unconventional love story of a couple showing that the wife was unable to tolerate hunger and cold when her husband was unable to provide her food and warmth. Yet, he tried to save her by walking to the west and the north until both of them died of freezing cold and hunger. The condition in which both of them died showed their eternal love as the man was found providing her warmth so that she could live long. Although it happened way back in the winter of 1847, the poet intends to instill this past event into the psyche of the Irish people to make them resilient and bold enough to show love and warmth toward their brethren during the trials and tribulations. The poet also claims that no love poem comprising sensual language and gross intimacies match the gracefulness of the poem showing this couple as it is proof how they did it as it is a fact. On the other hand, most of the love poems are not facts and they cannot be proved.
• Major Themes in “Quarantine”: Selfless love, historical realities, and permanence of facts are three major themes of this poem “Quarantine.” The poem opens when the poet refers to the famine of 1847 that is also called the Potato Famine. That famine was the worst year in the history of the Irish nation. The entire nation faced that worst time when the people started dying of hunger and cold. In the midst of this food crisis, people demonstrated historical realities of facing it with loving minds and resilience. The men and women tried to save lies and several untold stories of such struggle, efforts and love emerged later through different studies. The poet also shows that such stories could be proved through historical research. Therefore, such poetic renditions are better than sensual poetry that does not hold grounds against such factual poetic pieces.

 Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “Quarantine”

literary devices are essential for beautiful poetic rendition. The analysis of these devices in the poem shows this fact as follows.

1. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of /o/ in “In the worst hour of the worst season”, /e/ in “She was sick with famine fever and could not keep up” and the sound of /a/ in “The last heat of his flesh was his last gift to her.”
2. Alliteration: It is the use of successive consonant sounds in the initials of the successive words such as /w/ in “workhouse with” and the sound of /th/ in “this threshold.”
3. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /f/ and /c/ in “She was sick with famine fever and could not keep up”, /l/ and /v/ in “Let no love poem ever come to this threshold.”
4. 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;

Let no love poem ever come to this threshold.
There is no place here for the inexact
praise of the easy graces and sensuality of the body.

5. Epistrophe: The poem shows the use of the repetition of the second part of the sentence such as “the worst…” in first two verses.
6. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. The poem shows the use of imagery such as “a man set out from the workhouse with his wife”, “He lifted her and put her on his back” and “He walked like that west and west and north.”
7. Juxtaposition: The poem shows the juxtaposition of opposite ideas in last stanza as the death does not put together; rather, it separates the people.
8. Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between the objects that are different. The poem shows the use of metaphors as nightfall, history, and flesh.
9. Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from literal meanings. The poem shows the use of the symbols of time, famine, and inventory.
10. Simile: The poem shows the use of similes such as “He walked like the west.”

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “Quarantine”

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.

1. Diction: The poem shows dry use of figurative language with a lugubrious tone.
2. Free Verse: The poem does not follow any rhyme scheme. Therefore, it is a free verse.
3. Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are five stanzas in this poem with each having four verses.

Quotes to be Used

These lines from “Quarantine” are relevant to use when teaching conjugal love and counseling about the importance of conjugal love.

In the morning they were both found dead.
Of cold. Of hunger. Of the toxins of a whole history.
But her feet were held against his breastbone.
The last heat of his flesh was his last gift to her