AFTER BY PHILIP BOURKE MARSTON

‘After’  by Philip Bourke Marston presents words that arise from a heart, broken and sad. It is a
testimony of a person who has nothing left in his life instead of grief. For him, the little things
that once existed before have now given way to grief only. It is not that it’s an  elegy written for
the poet’s lost love. The poem presents a mixed kind of emotions that appear and fade away
in the poet’s mind. Moreover, the brevity of expression in the poem and the repetition of the
word “little” make the poem closer to the heart as it speaks the truth! Nothing stays. What
remains is the recollection of the past.
‘After’  by Philip Bourke Marston talks about the poetic persona’s little wishes. He doesn’t want
anything bigger from life except for pleasant things that cheer the heart. Likewise, in the first
three stanzas, the poet talks about the lady whom he loved. Now, she is not with the poet. For
this reason, he desires those things that once made him feel happy. In the following two
stanzas, the poet says what he really wants to say to his beloved. There is still something left
in his heart that he wants to tell her about. Moreover, in the last stanza, the poet sighs for the
“long, long” years that he has to live alone with a sad heart. What is left in him, is the endless
heartache. It will only end in eternal sleep.
 After’  by Philip Bourke Marston consists of six four-line stanzas. The poet employs a
regular rhyme scheme in the poem and he makes use of the closed rhyming form. It means
that the first and fourth lines of each stanza rhyme together. Whereas, the second and third
lines form a rhyming couplet. As an example, in the first stanza, “laughter” and “after” rhyme
and “sing” rhyme with “cling”. The repetition of “A little” throughout the poem except in the last
stanza, refers to the main idea of the poem. It is no doubt about the little things that make one
cheerful.
However, the metrical composition of the poem is interesting enough. In each stanza, the first
and fourth lines contain 7 syllables each. Whereas, the second line and third line contain 6
and 8 syllables respectively. In this poem, the lines having 6 and 7 syllables contain
the iambic trimeter. But, the first and fourth lines have hypermetrical endings. Moreover, the
third line of each stanza is in iambic tetrameter. However, it can be said that the poem is
composed of iambic trimeter as the majority of the lines contain this meter.

Literary Devices
‘After’  by Philip Bourke Marston is a poem that has some important literary devices to discuss.
The epigrammatic sense present in each section of the poem is also very interesting.
However, in the first stanza, the first three lines contain anaphora. The last line of this stanza
is somehow paradoxical in sense. In the second stanza, the second line contains
a personification. Here the poet also uses a metaphor for referring to himself. However, in
“golden dreams” there is a metonymy. Here, the poet refers to the dreams that one values the
most. In the third stanza, there is a simile in the third line and here the poet compares himself
to a ghost. Whereas, in the last stanza, the poet uses hyperbole and a metaphor as well.
In the fifth stanza, the poet uses synecdoche in the second line. Here, by referring to “heart”
the poet associates himself. There is an alliteration in the third line of this stanza. Here, the “s”
sound in “short sharp” gets repeated for the sake of emphasis. Moreover, in the last stanza,
there is a palilogy in the use of the word “long” twice. It is no doubt a hyperbolic expression. In
the third line, “Great grief” is an example of consonance. The poet also personifies “grief” in
this line and invests it with the idea of desolating the soul. At last, the poet uses
a periphrasis or circumlocution for pointing to “death”.

Stanza One
A little time for laughter,
A little time to sing,
A little time to kiss and cling,
And no more kissing after.

‘After’  by Philip Bourke Marston presents how the poet longs for his lady love. The love story
has ended abruptly and there is still feeling left in the poet’s heart. The poet can imagine how
they laughed and sang together. The sensation of kissing her and clinging her closer to his
heart, reminds the poet about the brevity of his relationship. He is sad because he can’t find
any other person just like her. For this reason, the poet reiterates there is “no more kissing”
after she has left.
Stanza Two

A little while for scheming

Love’s unperfected schemes;
A little time for golden dreams,
Then no more any dreaming.
‘
After’  by Philip Bourke Marston presents the foolish schemes that one thinks of to please his
beloved. The poet doesn’t have enough time for scheming too as she was there in his life for
a short time. In the second line, the poet refers to the schemes of love as “unperfected”. It is
true that no matter how one tries to perfect the plans to please his beloved, it appears as
imperfect at the end. It is ironic but true.
In the last two lines, the poet refers to his dreams of the future with the lady. According to the
poet, the dreams are golden because the dreams revolve around the lady whom the poet
adores the most. The last line again reiterates the negation for the sake of emphasizing the
poet’s mental state.
 
Stanza Three
A little while ’twas given
To me to have thy love;
Now, like a ghost, alone I move

About a ruined heaven.

In the third stanza of ‘After’, the poet refers to the transience of the lady’s love. He implicitly
compares love with life and refers to the transience of both. In the last two lines, there is a
reference to the poet’s loneliness. He feels like a formless ghost as the lady’s departure has
devastated his spirit. Now, he roams in the heaven that he created in his mind. The heaven,
created with love and care, is now in ruins. And, the poet is the guardian spirit of that broken
heaven.
 
Stanza Four
A little time for speaking
Things sweet to say and hear;
A time to seek, and find thee near,
Then no more any seeking.

In the fourth stanza of ‘After’, Marston expresses how much he longs to speak with her. He
wants to hear her words that linger in his mind and soothes his soul. The stanza reflects how
badly the poet misses the lady. However, in the last two lines, the poet seeks her again and
finds her near like before. But, sadly he can’t. In the last line, the poet says, “Then no more
any seeking.” It means that the poet just needs a brief encounter with the lady again and
nothing more.
 
Stanza Five
A little time for saying
Words the heart breaks to say;
A short sharp time wherein to pray,
Then no more need of praying;

In the fifth stanza of ‘After’, the poet presents what he really wants to say to his beloved. His
heart is breaking as it can’t hold those words anymore there. He has to say it anyhow. For this
reason, he prays to God to make her return. Thus the poet can unfold his heart and say what
he badly wants to. He seeks nothing else. Apart from that, there is another thing to note here
that the poet has no other desires except for talking with her.

 
Stanza Six
But long, long years to weep in,
And comprehend the whole
Great grief that desolates the soul,

And eternity to sleep in.

Historical Context
‘After’  by Philip Bourke Marston is a poem that refers to a lady who had left the poet.
The tone and mood of the poem present that the poet isn’t aggravated about the departure.
He badly misses her presence. Moreover, the poet lost his fiancée Mary Nesbit in November
1871. So, it seems that the poet might have addressed this poem to her.

‘After’  by Philip Bourke Marston presents the foolish schemes that one thinks of to please his
beloved. The poet doesn’t have enough time for scheming too as she was there in his life for
a short time. In the second line, the poet refers to the schemes of love as “unperfected”. It is
true that no matter how one tries to perfect the plans to please his beloved, it appears as
imperfect at the end. It is ironic but true.
In the last two lines, the poet refers to his dreams of the future with the lady. According to the
poet, the dreams are golden because the dreams revolve around the lady whom the poet
adores the most. The last line again reiterates the negation for the sake of emphasizing the
poet’s mental state.