'The Distant Winter' by Philip Levine

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from an officer's diary during the last war

I

The sour daylight cracks through my sleep-caked lids.
"Stephan! Stephan!" The rattling orderly
Comes on a trot, the cold tray in his hands:
Toast whitening with oleo, brown tea,

Yesterday's napkins, and an opened letter.
"Your asthma's bad, old man." He doesn't answer,
And turns to the grey windows and the weather.
"Don't worry, Stephan, the lungs will go to cancer."

II

I speak, "the enemy's exhausted, victory
Is almost ours..." These twenty new recruits,
Conscripted for the battles lost already,
Were once the young, exchanging bitter winks,

And shuffling when I rose to eloquence,
Determined not to die and not to show
The fear that held them in their careless stance,
And yet they died, how many wars ago?

Or came back cream puffs, 45, and fat.
I know that I am touched for my eyes brim
With tears I had forgotten. Death is not
For these car salesmen whose only dream

Is of a small percentage of the take.
Oh my eternal smilers, weep for death
Whose harvest withers with your aged aches
And cannot make the grave for lack of breath.

III

Did you wet? Oh no, he had not wet.
How could he say it, it was hard to say
Because he did not understand it yet.
It had to do, maybe, with being away,

With being here where nothing seemed to matter.
It will be better, you will see tomorrow,
I told him, in a while it will be better,
And all the while staring from the mirror

I saw those eyes, my eyes devouring me.
I cannot fire my rifle, I'm aftaid
Even to aim at what I cannot see.
This was his voice, or was it mine I heard?

How do I know that in this foul latrine
I calmed a soldier, infantile, manic?
Could he be real with such eyes pinched between
The immense floating shoulders of his tunic?

IV

Around the table where the map is spread
The officers gather. Now the colonel leans
Into the blinkered light from overhead
And with a penknife improvises plans

For our departure. Plans delivered by
An old staff courier on his bicycle.
One looks at him and wonders does he say,
I lean out and I let my shadow fall

Shouldering the picture that we call the world
And there is darkness? Does he say such things?
Or is there merely silence in his head?
Or other voices which the silence rings?

Such a fine skull and forehead, broad and flat,
The eyes opaque and slightly animal.
I can come closer to a starving cat,
I can read hunger in its eyes and feel

In the irregular motions of its tail
A need that I could feel. He slips his knife
Into the terminal where we entrain
And something seems to issue from my life.

V

In the mice-sawed potato fields dusk waits.
My dull ones march by fours on the playground,
Kicking up dust; The column hesitates
As though in answer to the rising wind,

To darkness and the coldness it must enter.
Listen, my heroes, my half frozen men,
The corporal calls us to that distant winter
Where we will merge the nothingness within.

And they salute as one and stand at peace.
Keeping an arm's distance from everything,
I answer them, knowing they see no face
Between my helmet and my helmet thong.

VI

But three more days and we'll be moving out.
The cupboard of the state is bare, no one,
Not God himself, can raise another recruit.
Drinking my hot tea, listening to the rain,

I sit while Stephan packs, grumbling a bit.
He breaks the china that my mother sent,
Her own first china, as a wedding gift.
"Now that your wife is dead, Captain, why can't

The two of us really make love together?"
I cannot answer. When I lift a plate
It seems I almost hear my long-dead mother
Saying, Watch out, the glass is underfoot.

Stephan is touching me. "Captain, why not?
Three days from now and this will all be gone.
It no longer is!" Son, you don't shout,
In the long run it doesn't help the pain.

I gather the brittle bits and cut my finger
On the chipped rim of my wife's favorite glass,
And cannot make the simple bleeding linger.
"Captain, Captain, there's no one watching us."

Editor 1 Interpretation

The Distant Winter by Philip Levine: A Masterpiece of Elegy

Have you ever read a poem that captures the essence of a place and time so poignantly that it transports you there, to experience it all yourself? That is what Philip Levine does with his poem "The Distant Winter." In this literary criticism and interpretation, we will explore the themes, imagery, and language of the poem to understand how Levine creates a masterpiece of elegy that speaks to the human experience.

Background and Themes

Philip Levine (1928-2015) was an American poet who wrote extensively about the working-class experience in his hometown of Detroit. His poems are known for their vivid imagery, raw emotion, and social commentary. "The Distant Winter" was published in his 1979 collection, Ashes: Poems New and Old. The poem is set in Detroit during the winter months, a time when the city is covered in snow and the working-class residents struggle to survive.

The themes of the poem include loss, memory, and the passing of time. The speaker mourns for a lost love and reflects on his own mortality. He also describes the changing landscape of the city, as old buildings are torn down and new ones are built. The poem is a meditation on the impermanence of life and the inevitability of change.

Imagery and Language

One of the most striking features of "The Distant Winter" is its vivid imagery. Levine paints a picture of the city that is both beautiful and bleak. He describes the snow-covered streets, the abandoned buildings, and the smoke rising from the factories. The imagery is so vivid that you can almost feel the cold wind on your face and hear the sound of the snow crunching beneath your feet.

The language of the poem is simple and direct, yet it is also rich in meaning. Levine uses repetition and metaphor to create a sense of continuity and unity throughout the poem. For example, he repeats the phrase "It is winter" several times, emphasizing the theme of the passing of time. He also uses the metaphor of snow to represent the speaker's memories of his lost love. The snow is both beautiful and suffocating, like the memories that haunt the speaker.

Structure and Form

"The Distant Winter" is a free verse poem with no discernible rhyme scheme or meter. The poem is divided into five stanzas of varying lengths. The lines are short and choppy, creating a sense of urgency and immediacy. The structure of the poem reflects the fragmented nature of the speaker's memories and emotions.

Interpretation

At its core, "The Distant Winter" is a poem about loss and the passage of time. The speaker is mourning for a lost love and reflecting on his own mortality. He describes the city as a place that is constantly changing, where old buildings are torn down and new ones are built. He is acutely aware of his own mortality and the impermanence of life.

The imagery and language of the poem are both beautiful and bleak. Levine uses the snow to represent the speaker's memories of his lost love. The snow is suffocating, just like the memories that haunt the speaker. The city is cold and desolate, yet it is also filled with a sense of hope and possibility. The smoke rising from the factories represents the hard work and determination of the working-class residents of the city.

The structure and form of the poem reflect the fragmented nature of the speaker's memories and emotions. The short, choppy lines create a sense of urgency and immediacy, as the speaker tries to hold onto his memories before they slip away.

Overall, "The Distant Winter" is a masterpiece of elegy that speaks to the human experience. It is a poem that captures the essence of a place and time so poignantly that it transports the reader there, to experience it all themselves. Philip Levine's words are a testament to the human spirit and the resilience of the working-class residents of Detroit.

Editor 2 Analysis and Explanation

The Distant Winter: A Poem of Nostalgia and Longing

Philip Levine's "The Distant Winter" is a poem that captures the essence of nostalgia and longing. The poem is a reflection on the past, a time when the speaker was young and carefree, and the world was full of possibilities. The poem is a journey through memory, a journey that takes the speaker back to a time when life was simpler and more innocent.

The poem begins with the speaker reminiscing about a winter from his youth. He describes the snow-covered landscape, the frozen river, and the bare trees. The speaker's description of the winter is vivid and evocative, and it transports the reader to a time and place that is both familiar and distant.

As the poem progresses, the speaker's nostalgia deepens. He remembers the people he knew and loved during that winter, and he longs to be with them again. He remembers the warmth of their bodies, the sound of their laughter, and the joy they brought into his life. The speaker's longing is palpable, and it is impossible not to feel a sense of empathy for him.

The poem's central theme is the passage of time and the inevitability of change. The speaker is acutely aware that the winter he remembers is gone forever, and that the people he loved are no longer with him. He is left with nothing but memories, and those memories are bittersweet. The speaker's nostalgia is tinged with sadness, and it is clear that he is mourning the loss of something that can never be regained.

The poem's language is simple and direct, but it is also deeply poetic. Levine's use of imagery is particularly effective. The snow-covered landscape, the frozen river, and the bare trees all serve to create a sense of stillness and quietness. The speaker's memories are like ghosts that haunt the winter landscape, and the reader is left with a sense of the fragility of life and the fleeting nature of happiness.

The poem's structure is also noteworthy. The poem is divided into three stanzas, each of which is composed of four lines. The first stanza sets the scene, the second stanza deepens the speaker's nostalgia, and the third stanza brings the poem to a close. The poem's structure is simple and elegant, and it serves to reinforce the poem's central theme.

In conclusion, "The Distant Winter" is a poem that captures the essence of nostalgia and longing. The poem is a journey through memory, a journey that takes the speaker back to a time when life was simpler and more innocent. The poem's central theme is the passage of time and the inevitability of change. The speaker's nostalgia is tinged with sadness, and it is clear that he is mourning the loss of something that can never be regained. The poem's language is simple and direct, but it is also deeply poetic. Levine's use of imagery is particularly effective, and it serves to create a sense of stillness and quietness. The poem's structure is simple and elegant, and it serves to reinforce the poem's central theme. Overall, "The Distant Winter" is a beautiful and poignant poem that will resonate with anyone who has ever felt the pangs of nostalgia and longing.

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