Mortality and Grief

This poem at its heart is an exploration of the speaker’s impending mortality and the lasting effects of their loss. “The Blackbird of Glanmore” was written towards the end of the poet’s life and touches upon a real-world event that happened more than fifty years previously. The first hint of this theme is in the translated phrase “I want away / To the house of death” (Lines 10-11), which suggests that the speaker is looking towards this “house of death” in their own life.

The third full-length stanza introduces the “Haunter-son, lost brother” (Line 15) who fills the speaker’s thoughts. Although the speaker is grieving, the tone isn’t overtly painful; rather, the lost brother is one who has gone ahead of the speaker on their journey. Thus, the speaker’s grief is not entirely for the one lost, but for those left...