Authenticity of the statement "Transtromer's poems are deceptively simple” according to

the poem “The Couple”

Submitted By

Name: Sonjoy Boishnab

Reg. No. 2016236066

4th Year 2nd Semester

Session: 2016-17

Submitted To

Noor E Jannat Meem

Lecturer

Department of English

Date of Submission

04th December, 2020

Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet

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Authenticity of the statement "Transtromer's poems are deceptively simple” according to the
poem “The Couple”

Tomas Transtromer is a Swedish great poet who always gives a very fresh access to the

readers through his translucent and condense images in his poetry. His poetry has a universal

appeal which creates a gigantic image using some simple colors and signals a shift from

something simple to extraordinary. As Transtromer’s poems are simple in reading and critical in

thinking that’s why it is often said that Transtromer’s poems are deceptively simple. Besides, the

term ‘deceptively simple’ means that transtromer’s poems look very simple on the surface level

after a fresh reading but in the deep, they have some complex message which unveil the reality

of human life.   

 According to Robert frost, “Poetry begins in delight and ends in wisdom” which means

that after reading poetry, readers will get a message. Robert Frost in one of his lectures stated

that poetry has three layers of meaning such as simple, universal and transcendental. These three

meanings can be observed in a poem when it is approached from three different layers. So, it is

actually tough to recognize a poem as good or bad except exploring all the three meanings of that

poem. Transtromer's poems often begin with a very simple setting but deep inside it has a bigger

meaning about life and philosophy that sometimes make the readers feel that they have just

awakened from the dream of life. He always writes about simple, common and ordinary

experiences but his simplicity is only on the surface as his poems actually talk about great ideas

and thoughts that are deep.

For example, Transtromer’s poem “The Couple” seems very ordinary at first where a

couple was in their room, they turn off the light, everything becomes dark and they sleep.

Though apparently, the poem gives the idea about a couple in a hotel where the environment is
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dark and solitary but actually it introduces the readers to the barrenness of contemporary society

where the people are totally expressionless. Moreover, through this poem, Transtromer may

spread some positive message to give relief to the readers from the boredom of the lifeless

postmodern society where there is always a lack of communication, sense of loss, mental agony

and depression among the people. In that sense, here the couple in the poem may be regarded as

an example to spread the message to be happy always even if the situation is not favorable.

 From the very beginning of the poem, Transtromer created the environment in such a

gloomy way which seemed that there was no hope for making love between the couple. Even, if

there was any possibility of making love between them that was also dissolving like a tablet in a

glass of darkness. On the other hand, the dark environment of the poem may refer to the

tormented inner world of the people of the contemporary society as the time was after World

War Ⅱ. In that time, people’s minds were empty, they were far away from a normal life. Having

a healthy relationship was something beyond imagination at that time because the after effects of

World War II fell so drastically on the normal lives of people that they became silent and

mentally broken. This line “The movement of love have settled” also clears the idea that there

was some ill feeling or disruption which created a communication gap between them. In such a

situation, Transtromer took a sudden shift from his position and changed the mindset of the

readers by writing the line “They sleep but their most secret thoughts meet as when two colors

meet and flow into each other on the wet paper of a schoolboy’s painting”. Through this line the

readers got an optimistic message that though there was an ill feeling between the couple which

made them silent and rancorous, it all vanished away when they slept and their thoughts meet

together as two colors meet and flow into each other like the wet paper of a schoolboy’s painting.
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 Moreover, Transtromer’s fragmented language shows the inner world of the

contemporary modern society where people are totally hopeless and hapless. Then, in the last

para he symbolically portrayed the inanimate objects of the hotel as human beings and drew

them near to the couple’s room to make them see the real happiness. After seeing that, the crowd

in that place become expressionless and they may wish to get their losing hope back. In that

situation, Transtromer’s attempt of surreal exploration made the couple as symbol of hope and

the inanimate objects of the hotel are the witness of the couple’s love. Thus, Transtromer created

hope in a wilderness area among the people of the contemporary modern society.

The way the poem “The Couple” begins it does not end in the same way rather it begins

with a very gloomy tone but ends in an optimistic way. Though the diction and the arrangement

of the poem are very simple, it gives the readers a great message. In that sense, Transtromer is

very much unique among the other contemporary poets of his age. To get the actual meanings of

his poem, readers need to have a thinking mind to understand the hidden meaning under the

primary description of the poem with a very simple tone. So, as the poem “The Couple” has a

great message under a very simple setting, it will not be that much irrelevant to say

Transtromer’s poems are deceptively simple.