The poem tells us a story about the families of soldiers in military, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the soldier after it's been days, weeks and perhaps even months since their last visit.
Obviously, enlisting in the military restricts much time with one's family and every second in the field is precarious.
The "I" perspective in the poem refers to the beloved ones of the soldier: Mother, father, spouse, children, friends, anyone.
The "you" persona is the soldier who is returning home after striving for their country. Any country
"Dust danced on the still, dirt road" refers to the nothingness or void that is left after the soldier left their home. It can be perceived as: all that is left of the soldier is the dust settling on the roads where they used to walk, or the dust depositing in their unused rooms.
"Quite yet loud, came in those who rode."
But now, after oh-so-long, an ebony(black coloured)carriage is pulling in, in front of the home of the family. It's come dead quite, with not much revelry or festivities, but yet loud due to the heavy anticipation that the families have felt all year or yearS long.
"The ebony carriage, as it pulled in tall
Hustle and tumult around the dark arrival"
The family eagerly hustle around the dark arrival. It's dark, literally because of the black- ebony colour of the carriage and also because the news brought from the army could be bad.
"The beat of hearts or the cold stale stones"
Beat of heart refers to the living, breathing life.
Cold, stale stone refers to the dead, inanimate corpse.
So, with much sadness and anxiety, the beloved ones of the soldier enquire each other if the arrival is living or dead. As in, is the soldier still alive?
"And then, in you walked, into the well lit hall": the soldier/messenger at last walks inside the well-lit hall. Which("well-lit") symbolises the warmth and affection the family/friends posses.
"But my heart was dark....": even though the hall is bright and lively in literal sense, the hearts of the loved ones are still dark and anxious because they haven't yet looked upon the face of the soldier, to ease their hearts.
Unto the second stanza:
"Up the staircase, anticipation deep down the mind"
The soldier(or whoever that carriage has brought: they still don't know if the soldier is alive) goes in search of the family..
Doors are opening as "little ghost figures"---well-wishers--- are closing in around the soldier(that arrived person).
"The birds chirruped, while the children were silenced"
And then there is dead silence, because of which, the chirrupings of birds could be heard, but the children were shushed to be able to hear the message/news.
Was the chirrup a crow's or a dove's?
Crow is the symbol of dead.
While dove symbolises peace and prosperity.
So as a way of wondering whether the news is bad or good, they are musing it out with the chirping of the bird.
Onto the third stanza:
"I raced down, you raced up
Curtains thrown out of the way
Glasses pushed aside.
When the two striding matched
And our faces searched.."
The family members and the soldier/messenger dash towards each other, both anxious to meet the other. Still shielded from one another by things like curtains and glass doors and many such obstacles on the way, all such hurdles were pushed away carelessly.
And when the "two striding" matched, ie, when the family(I) and the solider (you) were finally close enough, so that their pace/striding of running matched, and their faces searched for each other, the soldier with the hope to glance upon their family, the family to look at the soldier one more time, all "I" found was: (ie) all the family(friends..)found was...nothing.
It was emptiness they met with, no less, no more. No bad news arrived, nor did good news.
The family wept again (fearing for the soldier, anxious to meet them), as they heard the sour "echo of your footsteps" fading out, into the road and beyond, even before the footsteps ever even reached the doorstep, which metaphorically refers to "scarce meeting"
Before even, the family could speak or acquaint with the soldier, the soldier (or the person with the bad news) was called on back to the army, back to duty, so they had to leave yet again.
This alludes to the occurrences during WW1 and WW2, when even if the soldiers had died in battle, the death notification to their families would be done in a delayed manner due to lack of resources to spare.. so even if the soldier were dead and it was just a messenger with bad news in the carriage, even that news fades away into the oblivion of uncertainty and returns very late and delayed.
In the second stanza, there's this close-to-oxymoron effect in each line to show and emphasis that the news could go either way, dead opposites.
"Up" the stairs, "deep down" the mind.
Doors "opening", ghost figures "closing" in.
The birds "chirped", but the children were "silenced"
And then there's the final asking, an unvoiced question, is the news good or bad?
Is a new beginning, new chapter for the war warrior "opening"? Going "up", above and well? Is it "loud", vibrant and fun? Or.
Or is it "down" into the burial ground? "Closing" in of casket? Is it the "silence" of the dead?
YOU ARE READING
The Echo Of Your Footsteps
PuisiI've personally never had a relative or loved one who's served in the army. But I know of people who do, people who've experienced the loss of a soldier. I could never pretend to understand that kind of loss, but of all the stories I've heard, real...
