A wife in London

• • "She sits in the tawny vapour"
  • the atmosphere of London mirrors the hopelessness feeling of the wife as she awaits her husbands return from war - She has no control over what will happen to her husband and fears for him
• • "The street lamp glimmers cold"
  • Gloomy depressing scene of London represents the despair and melancholy of wives who were left alone when their husbands went to fight in war
  • War causes the separation of relationships creating hardships for both the soldier and his wife
• • "A messengers knock cracks smartly"
  • "He - Has fallen - in the far South land"
  • Sudden and unexpected alludes to something bad being imminent
  • Her husband has died in war leaving the wife's life shattered and lonely - many widows experienced this exact same thing revealing the mass death created by the Boer war
  • The messenger attempts the soften the reality of the soldiers death to his wife using "fallen" in place of killed. Opposingly his death would have been brutal and unjust
• • "the fog hangs thicker"
  • pathetic fallacy - weather conditions of London mirror the feelings of the widow who is overcome with grief and suffering
  • Her life has clearly being torn apart after the news of her husbands death - There was a lack of support for women who lost their husbands in war
• • "His hand, whom the worm now knows"
  • Her husband is now buried under mud and shrapnel reminding her how she will never see him again only adding to her depressive state - she has been left and abandoned by her husband
• • "Page full of his hoped return"
  • "And of new love that they would learn"
  • The soldier desired to return home to see his wife after their long-lasting separation - he wasn't anticipating his own death and was certain he would come home - ironic
  • The fragility of life which is easily destroyed by war and violence - violence only causes grief and sadness
  • The couple could have experienced new things however this was severed by violence and war - resonates with the reader that may take their own lives for granted and with youth who are confident they will live to see another day