Imagery

The poem has many contrasts between light and dark. These contrasts suggest the mixed feelings the father has about his son's departure. Light is first suggested by the phrase "platinum dazzle" and the phrase "he's entering into the light / of the world." This imagery continues when the father feels the first growth of down on the boy's face, which he knows he can see "when the light is right." He refers to it as the boy's "next life / in bright first touches."

These images of light are opposed by images of darkness, like the "long tunnel," which implies darkness and enclosure. The phrase "long tunnel" expresses the father's gloomy thoughts about his son's departure. Also the railway station is a "station of shade" (contrasted with the "shining water" on the river). "Shade" can also mean "ghost," which would link it to the line "ghostly faces behind smoked glass...