Critical Appreciation #1 : Unsaid Goodbyes

“I used to think novels were bad until I came across poems. They were verse."

Here is a recent poem that we read and thought we should do a critical appreciation of it. This would serve as a good reference to understand the deep and almost nearly inconspicuous meaning of the poem. Some comments have been given with some select lines as a vain attempt at humour and also for quick understanding of the context and beauty in the poem.

"

Somehow the train of thoughts never ends,    // "the" train? Probably previously referred to in one of the poet's poems. 

of unsaid goodbyes and lost friends. -       // Train of thoughts - Seeing that Train of thought is a plural , this is plural plural. Plural inception ! 

All the good times in your heart embossed,  

Reminding constantly what you’ve lost.      // Look at the aa bb rhyme scheme! ends-friends, embossed-lo.. wait. Lost ?

You wish there was some better way to end, 

a better way to let go of dear friends.    // Look at the aa bb rhyme scheme! end-friends. Ok. Look at the xyzw rhyme scheme from now on.

It pains to drift away, to crumble with time,

knowing very well that that you’ve committed a crime. //Mamaa.. just killed a man <Bohemian Rhapsody>

Truths get bared or masks finally fall, 

or time simply pulls apart from all.    // This is a key moment in the poem. Take time to read it nice and clear , slow and ho !

Whatever bitterness may have sprouted between two, 

admit it, you miss the other person too.  // Admit it ! Admit it, bloody %$%**$@. 

Without a word silent rifts get made, 

Let’s give it one more try” none of them said. //

And even though make new friends you will, // Facebook effect imploding our lives.

Unsaid goodbyes will forever hurt you still.

"

Summary

The poet has clearly written this in one of his passive and dull moods as evidently seen by his choice of words like 'lost', 'goodbye', 'bitterness' etc. The poet laments about the numerous friends who left him without saying a goodbye ( A hidden reason could be because of his increase in writing poetry and therefore a desperate attempt to save themselves ).

Lines 1 - 4 :
Grammatical errors apart , the poet has a flashback of people who ran away from him due to his habit of "Writing Poems!". He tries to remind his friends about how he made them emboss his poem "All the good times" in their chests. Also of the pain he felt when they lost the poem because it was a cheap tattoo.

Lines 5 - 8 :
The poet tells himself that there must be some better way to end his endeavour of writing poems, else he might have to lose all of his already few, near-and-dear friends. The poet has come to know very well that he's been doing the crime of writing such cataclysmic poem and hopes they will crumble with time.

Lines 9 - 12 :
He comes to accept that he will be greeted by a lot of criticism and mockery when his poems reach far and wide. But he also tries to force his friends to admit that they all loved him once and miss him now. The bitterness caused due to some unknown reason gets hidden between lines 11 and 12.

Lines 13 - 16 :
Everyone deserts the poet without prior warning . None of them are willing to "give one more try" to read his poems. Though the poet might meet new people, the way they keep deserting him will forever hurt him still. The vicious cycle of his continued poem-writing and the subsequent unsaid goodbyes ( Akin to Lord Tennyson's Brook ) will go on for ever . 

CBSE students should be highly benefited from such comprehension paragraphs. We'll definitely try and bring out question and answers to these stanzas after consulting our research group for the benefit of the public and the X standard students.