“One Hard Look”

by Robert Graves

Small gnats that fly¹

In hot July

And lodge in sleeping ears²

Can rouse therein

A trumpet’s din

With Day of Judgement fears.

Small mice at night

Can wake more fright

Than lions at midday;

A straw will crack³

The camel’s back –

There is no easier way.

One smile relieves⁴

A heart that grieves

Though deadly sad it be,

And one hard look

Can close the book

That lovers love to see.

Literal connections:

1. flies on the hospital ceiling

2. ‘ears’ looks like ‘cars’ – the train ride with the dying

3. the homeguard attacks Inman with the reaper/scythe.

4. When Ada returns to right her wrong and say a proper goodbye to Inman.

Metaphysical

-The first stanza can symbolize Inman’s defeat of death when he i buried alive and rises to the ‘trumpet’s din.’

-L 7-9 may suggest Inman’s inner problems: the war is the “lions at midday,’ and Ada is the small mouse that keeps him awake. The last line sums up his fears that he may not get away from the war.

-L. 13-14 can suggest the piano being taken away even as it reminds Ada of Inman and the Christmas party.