Constellations

Commentary

Choman Hardi’s poem ‘There Was…’ approaches endings as a theme, as it is about the ending of an era in life. Hardi portrays her feelings on this ending in different ways throughout her poem, and allows the reader to reminisce with the voice as they explore the emotions which accompany the poem. Therefore, what will be examined in detail is how the past and the present are depicted by Hardi, the use of the imagery of rain and its cyclical theme, and the ending of the poem. In doing so, the readers will have an insight on the impact of an ending in life, but will also see the deep connection that endings have with memories.

What will first be acknowledged is Hardi’s use of tenses in the poem; by opening with the present tense and then transitioning it to the past tense, this is what notifies the reader that the persona is speaking of something that was once in their life. Moreover this poem has autobiographical aspects to it, since it is denoted that the persona is describing his or her life, therefore this shows endings as the end of an era. So the change from present tense to past tense is seen in the third stanza:

There is a house with four bedrooms
where a couple live with their three children
one of them is seven years old and the other two are three.

to the fourth stanza:

There was a house with four bedrooms
where seven people used to live
and they ate around a flowery sifra every day.

These two stanzas are almost repetitive of each other, as they both open with the exact same line, and are describing very similar scenarios; by doing this, Hardi is provoking the readers to draw instant comparisons to both houses, but uses their similarities to emphasise their differences. By emphasising the differences, this demonstrates how the ending of one thing can change a lot in one person’s life, such as your family that you live with and your surroundings. As of now it is ambiguous whether the persona depicts an ending as a positive or a negative situation, however because they serve as memories of the persona’s past, this means that even though something has come to an end, it is not necessarily an absolute thing, since this ending can live on in different ways. In this case, it lives on as memories through poetry. Although it appears that endings, no matter what form they come in, are always inevitable and unavoidable.

To explore further is to examine the differences between the first three stanzas which start with “There is…”, and the following stanzas starting with “There was…”. By seeing how the poet contrasts the present with the past, it will become more apparent how the ending of an era has affected the persona, and will show what an ending in someone’s reality means to them. In the second stanza of the first line, rain is the focal point: “when the first rain falls, and you can hear the fat raindrops.” Images and sounds of rain have instant connotations with feeling morose, and typically you are inside when it rains as people tend to avoid it. However in this stanza: “There was a garden where the brown chicks // would grow big enough to be killed, and every death was cried over. // where a lonely fish was swimming aimlessly in a blue pot”, you have a vision of living creatures, nature, and the outdoors where people are out in the open; there is a feeling of youth and freedom in the past as a brighter image is portrayed as opposed to the grey and rainy present. Therefore it seems that the end of an era can have a large impact on an individual since so many memories are built in a certain part of one’s life, that when it comes to an end and it is not by choice, it is reminisced and longed for. However the hope that we feel from this poem is that there will always be another opening after something ends.

Expanding on the image of rain, it emphasises the cyclical nature of endings; as rain is produced by a cyclical relationship in nature between water and the clouds, this is a reflection of how life has a similar pattern. Rain (water) can have destructive qualities, which signifies an end to something, but the exact same thing is also vital for living beings and things to survive. This is like how in life, despite something coming to an end, another thing will always come afterwards; as endings do not represent a termination of opportunities, readers can take pleasure in the feeling of hope that is presented. However the persona’s portrayal of what used to exist adds to slightly despondent tone that their past has come to an end. In the final stanza, it ends with: “There was a place where seven people lived happily in the four seasons.” This simple line uses minimal description, making the principal word the adverb “happily”. Such a minimalist description reflects on how it was a simple time for the persona, and emphasises what the persona values which is family. This gives the impression that the persona is reminiscing the past and is yearning for it; but they have also struggled to moved on from their memories. This strong connection between memories and endings, and the sadness depicted from a memory coming to an end reminds readers of similar emotions that they can relate to, such as the feeling of absence, and a time when they have experienced the end of something that they value highly.

To conclude, it appears that even though endings are not as absolute as the literal meaning of the word, it is needless to say that an ending of a happy era is usually accompanied by feelings of despondence and yearning. However there is always hope as the past will always live on through the memories of the individual, and in Hardi’s case, it is shared and becomes other’s memories through poetry. What is more, readers can also take comfort in knowing that there will always be other opportunities even when a part of their life has come to an end.