Sounds of the Day By: Norman MacCaig

Sounds of the day? What day is it that you speak of? Are you talking about a specific day of the year? What sounds do you mean? Certain sounds on a certain day?  

While reading Sounds of the Day, a poem by Norman MacCaig very many questions came to mind. Like, what is a lapwing? It is a bird that is popular in Europe. But, what is its significance? Why was it escorting you off of the premises of its private marsh? Was this a place that you and a loved one once shared? Was this place by the water close to the home of you and the loved one you speak of?

“When the door scraped shut, it was the end of all the sounds there are.” When who left is what I might ask? Are you talking about a lover, your wife or your mother? If it is in fact a lover I would believe that the day they left would be the end of all sounds, because all joy is gone and there is nothing left to hear and when there is nothing left to hear there is nothing left to feel.

“You left me beside the quietest fire in the world,” once again who left? What is the fires significance? Could it be a reference to the flame in your heart not crackling like it is supposed to; instead it is silent? Why did your lover leave you? Why was it the quietest fire in the world?

“I thought I was hurt in my pride only, forgetting that, when you plunge your hand in freezing water, you feel a bangle of ice around your wrist before the whole hand goes numb.” When someone you love leaves you, you never only hurt in your pride you hurt in your heart as well. When you refer to your hand are you also playing around with the idea that it is your heart that is numb, from whoever left you leaving your heart in shambles.`

In this short poem I have asked questions about the things that puzzle and mystify me. I believe the point the writer is trying to get across, is that when he was in love, everything that his lover and he shared had sound. I think that when his lover left the last sound he heard was the door scraping shut. He was left by a quiet fire. When I think of a fire I think of a good time and laughter and the fire hot and crackling. But, the narrator says he was left by a quiet fire, how lonely must that be? But, could the fire be symbolizing his love for the person he is talking about? The narrator goes on to say that he was “hurt in my pride only, forgetting that, when you plunge your hand into freezing water…before the whole hand goes numb.” Like I said above I believe he is referring to his heart going numb from his lover leaving him.