As evening creeps into the city
a mother hurries home; eyes downward as if in shame;
casting fearful glances at shadows -- one hand
gripping her child, the other clutching
money in her bag. for her
death lurks in darkness
Not so far away, a river winds
its way endlessly to the sea. its banks
a luxuriant green of trees and flowers.
Two love-birds sit -- hearts afire and
eyes ablaze with faith that knows no
sorrow, no shame. Oblivious to the other's
flight; lost in sweetness akin to ripe mangoes --
for them, love dwells in darkness
What does the poet mean by "Two Nightfalls" and how does the poet create this effect?
ReplyDeleteThe poet expresses death in the first stanza and love in the second stanza
ReplyDeletewhat i understood was, it wasn't actually two different nights being talked about but just one. in that one night, there are two different aspects...one filled with fear, danger and death(as in the first stanza) and the other filled with peace,nature and love. i think it is trying to tell how we all view the world differently and how people react differently to a particular event. whiles some will find a way to make good out of every situation, even when it seems gloomy and there seems to be no hope...'darkness', others will wallow in it and allow the events of the world to control them and not the other way round. i think it is two nightfalls in one, because it is seen through the eyes of two different people or group of people. that's what i think.
ReplyDelete@ Ebenezer: can you elaborate on that?
ReplyDelete@ Hannah: Excellent! Now, how does the poet use language to achieve the effect you describe?
the words used in the first stanza have directly opposite meanings to those in the second stanza.
ReplyDelete"Not so far away" beginning the 2nd stanza tells us that the two descriptions of the night are about the same area, not two distinct places.
but in this same place, whereas one is seeing 'shadows';which can stand for danger and evil, the other is seeing '...luxuriant green of trees and flowers'; which can stand for beauty, love, freshnesss.
while one is passing through the night 'as if in shame', the other is enjoying the natures of night with 'no shame'.
one is so caught up in fear...'casting fearful glances...' and even with the way she holds her child, as if to protect the child from some danger...'one hand gripping her child' but the other is so engulfed in love that the fear of the other is not felt or noticed...'oblivious to the other's flight'.
the last lines of each stanza also draws out the differences. 'death' for one and 'love' for the other.
well the poet pointed out in the first stanza about how a mother hurries home, bowing her head as if in shame. this spells out fear. also reading further down the first stanza u come to see that the mother believes that her death lurks in darkness. also in the second stanza the poet shows that whiles some people fear their death lurks in darkness, others enjoy nature and are at peace with their surroundings. i think whut the poet means by two night falls is how people perceive life. One might be eaten by fear and another would enjoy life.
ReplyDeletethe poet message is about death and love. a mother's death draws nearer and on the other hand two love birds are enjoying themselves- not thinking about sorrow nor shame.there are two moments on earth that is death and life full of love.
ReplyDeletei think the poem is about two groups of people faced with a similar situation or in a similar circumstance, and how they view or interprete it. the poet uses figurative language in his title, 'two nightfalls' for in fact, it is but one night viewed through the eyes of two different groups of people.
ReplyDeleteto the anxious mother gripped with fear, the night (darkness) is a stranger that cannot be trusted and as such, she holds on firmly to the things which matter to her the most at that moment; her two treasures.
to the smitten lovers, the night (darkness) is when the world stands still. to them it is the one time in the day when the world matters not; and all that matters at that moment is each other and as such, they bask in the warmth of each others company.
darkness, as used in the poem, can be said to symbolise the unknown for both the lovers and the mother. however, the distinction between the two groups is the way they tend to interprete the unknown. to the mother, the unknown is characterised by fear and uncertainties; and it is with great urgency that she seeks to move away from this alien.
to the lovers, the unknown signifies new discoveries and hope; hope that their love will stand the test of time as they glory in its awesome wonder for now.
the writer uses contrast to bring out the very distinct features of both situations and by so doing, one might say that though it is but one night being viewed through the eyes of two different groups of persons, to them, it is two entirely different nights; hence the paradox, 'two nightfalls in one night.'
@Sedem: beautiful analysis.
ReplyDeleteI think the title of the poem is to inform readers about two different moods in a night.A mood of fear and sadness in the first stanza and that of love in the second stanza. The poet also uses contrast to elaborate on these situations therefore he uses "two nightfall"
ReplyDeleteIn fact the poem talks about death and love. To me, evening creeping into the city as used by the poet brings discomfort to some people and at the same time happiness to others.He shows the two sides of the coin as the woman sees "death" in "darkness", whiles the birds can only see "love" dwelling in it and this shows the good and bad side of every atmosphere or a situation to different categories of people in the society.
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ReplyDeleteWell, in talking about two night falls the poet is actually referring to two different characters and what the night meant to them at that moment. For the scared mother fleeing for her life the night meant that whatever she was fleeing from was lurking in the shadows ready to pounce on her. But for the lovers it meant a time they could express their love. He shows this contrast by the diction he uses.
ReplyDeleteFor instance for the mother, he uses words like shame, death, fearful to describe the mother's plight. These words create a gloomy atmosphere around the mother. Whilst for the love birds he uses words such as luxuriant, green, flowers, no shame, no sorrow to describe the atmosphere love birds are experiencing which can be said to be lightness, joy, brightness and many more.
-Eyram Acorlor
a morbid picture of night in the first stanza; an exuberant picture of night in stanza 2. night can be bad to some while pleasant to others
ReplyDeleteBy saying two nightfalls, the poet is actually referring to two states in life, that is the state of fear and anguish and the state of fearlessness and love
ReplyDeleteIn the first stanza, the poet talks about one state in life which is the state of fear and anguish. He does so by using words like gripping and clutching.However, in the second stanza, he depicted the state of fearlessness and love in the last line of the poem(...LOVE DWELLS IN DARKNESS). I think in this poem, by using the word darkness, the poet actually is referring to LIFE.In a nut shell,the poet uses this poem to tell us about how we all see a paticular situation differently.
What the poet means by two night falls is that on a particular night , people are either happy or sad ; afraid or brave . And that's just the state of affairs of humans , even animals , we are either happy or sad . He further elaborates this theme by a mother who is dreaded by the fall of dusk such that she has "one hand gripping her child " and "the other clutching money in her bag ". She is so afraid that , even the shadows of people that pass by make her suspicious .
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile , on the same night , some where close by and perhaps even more dangerous because it is by the bush and a river , " Two love-birds sit", chatting , totally immersed in happiness . They are happy and unconcerned about who ever is passing by , hence , " for them love dwells in darkness ."
The contrast between how this mother and the love-birds perceive the night is what the poet points out as two night falls .