Leaving Cardiff - Abse

This poem is based on the fact of Abse leaving Cardiff to go and live somewhere else. The use of alliteration is used in stanza one 'docks' derelictions' to give a sense of something now being empty and having no meaning. It gives a representation of an empty place, which will be empty of him when he is gone.

Within the second stanza he is describes that he 'stands on the deck and stares'. Now this literally means that he is looking out into the open. However it is also a metaphor for looking at life and considering the future. 'While black shapes upon the pier' suggests a very intense description of this place. This further reinforces that he is going to miss Cardiff.

Stanza three has a more emotional impact on the reader, this is different to how we feel when we read Larkin's poems. The quote 'pump to my eyes and spill' really encompasses how emotional he is feeling about leaving Cardiff, that this place really means a lot to him.

Similar to Larkin, the fourth stanza then shifts into the more philosophical ideas about choosing to leave. When he comments 'when who sailing made no choice' suggests he wasn't conscious of making the choice to leave. This links to making the right life choices in life and in turn refers to the poem by Larkin 'Dockery and Son'. We also get a gloomy and depressing atmosphere to this poem towards the end of this stanza where he comments 'Not for one second, I know, can I be the same man twice'. This gives us the impression that that when he moves he will be a completely different person, this is what exposes the epiphany of the poem and the philosophical meaning that he comes across.

The last stanza really exposes the idea of moving on in life through 'spokes over the long horizon'. This is a verb of movement, where boats unload and move on. This suggests the change of what is to happen when leaving Cardiff. The poem ends with the quote 'unload and move on' which is symbolism for him moving on and that he is moving on with his life.

This poem has similarities to that of Larkin. We can link Leaving Cardiff to Home is so sad because both poems encompass this idea of the change and having to finally move on. It also links to Dockery and Son as it also includes the aspect of life choices and whether you have made the right ones or not.