Escape

The World War 1 poem by Robert Graves, a soldier in the Royal Welch Fusiliers, describes his own near death experience where he was wrongly assumed and declared dead before being discovered as alive and injured. He gives a graphic and frighteningly morbid account of the horrifying experience that haunts him

Graves uses AABB rhyming and skillfully uses diction, metaphors and imagery and allusions to describe his ordeal. The poem is aptly named “Escape’ as he narrowly escapes being buried alive, before being discovered as still breathing. Graves himself once said, “ ..nine tenths of what passes as English poetry is the product of either careerism, or keeping one’s hand in ;a choice between vulgarity and banality”. Graves falls in the one tenth of English poets that writes from his soul as he shares his personal experiences and sends a message about the futility of a senseless war. He uses one stanza so as not to break up the fast paced rhythm which adds to the excitement and matches his erratic thoughts and heart beat and fear.

The poem opens with Graves already ‘dead’ an hour awakens as he is being carried to his funeral for burial. Here he uses powerful imagery and a reference to the allusion of Cerberus in Greek mythology who was a giant hound which guarded the gates of Hades (the underworld where the dead were taken),and was posted to prevent ghosts of the dead from leaving the underworld. It is interesting that Graves uses imagery of hell instead of heaven as perhaps to denote himself as a sinner who has killed innocents and does not deserve salvation or forgiveness, as he cannot forgive himself. He uses the diction “Lethe” which is a river in Greek Mythology and the Goddess of oblivion (reference to his oblivious state of mind, “I felt the vapours of forgetfulness”). The dead were taken to the river where they were to drink its waters before entering the underworld of many realms. In his delirium as he awakens he sees various metaphors “ A cross” which has religious significance, ‘a rose in bloom’ signifying life and his awakening and “ cage with bars” showing he has not yet escaped his prison. He also sees “new stars” as he is reborn and the sky will have stars that are new for him but are “subterrene” alluding to his underworld status. He also mentions a “Barbed arrow feathered in fine stars” signifying weaponry and death.

As he is discovered as breathing he continues with the Greek allusion and describes his savior as “Lady Proserpine”, who in the dark place of Hades was the Queen and for “ Henna’s sake “ or joy saves him from death. As he scrambles for life he gives the imagery of the evils of the underworld trying to prevent his escape with the diction “ demons, heroes and policeman-ghosts”. He fights for the keyword “Life, Life” which is repeated for importance and describes the aforementioned Cerberus who was known to have three heads and a serpent tail adding to the horrific imagery, “ lion, lynx and sow”. In his head his soldiers instincts wants to grab his revolver but he realizes this is missing but realizes he has some morphine and places this in the hounds moth disguised with biscuit and jam to put to sleep his tormentor in graphic fast paced gripping detail. Graves describes his brain wave as “luminous” which serves to remind us that he is escaping the darkness into the light. He continues this lightness theme signifying escape from the hand of death with hope in the final sentence where the sun brings daylight, life warmth and happiness, “O Life ! O Sun.”