Walter de la Mare’s ‘The Return’ Poem

This guide dissects Walter de la Mare’s poem “The Return,” focusing on its thematic depth, narrative structure, and potential interpretations. It aims to provide a nuanced understanding for readers interested in exploring the poem’s unsettling atmosphere and psychological undertones.

Who This Is For

• Readers seeking a deeper analysis of “The Return” beyond surface-level interpretation.
• Students and scholars of English literature, particularly those studying early 20th-century poetry.

What to Check First

• The Poem’s Setting: Note the desolate, wintry landscape and its potential symbolic weight.
• The Speaker’s Tone: Observe the speaker’s apprehension and growing dread.
• The Unseen Presence: Identify how the poem builds suspense around an unknown entity or force.
• Sensory Details: Pay attention to the auditory and visual cues that contribute to the mood.

For those who wish to delve deeper into Walter de la Mare’s evocative poetry, securing a copy of ‘The Return’ is essential for a comprehensive understanding.

The Return

• Audible Audiobook
• Walter de la Mare (Author) - Stefan Rudnicki (Narrator)
• English (Publication Language)
• 04/18/2023 (Publication Date) - Blackstone Publishing (Publisher)

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Step-by-Step Analysis of The Return by Walter de la Mare

1. Initial Immersion: Read the poem aloud to grasp its rhythm and initial emotional impact.

• What to Look For: The immediate sense of unease and the stark imagery.
• Mistake to Avoid: Skipping the initial read-aloud, which can diminish the poem’s sonic and atmospheric qualities.

2. Deconstructing the Opening: Examine the first stanza’s description of the “cold, grey air” and the speaker’s solitary journey.

• What to Look For: The established atmosphere of isolation and the hint of an impending event.
• Mistake to Avoid: Underestimating the significance of the seemingly mundane details, which are crucial for setting the stage.

3. Identifying the “Return”: Analyze the lines that suggest something or someone is coming back, and the speaker’s reaction.

• What to Look For: The ambiguity surrounding the identity and nature of the returning element.
• Mistake to Avoid: Assuming a concrete, easily identifiable antagonist; the power lies in the unknown.

4. The Soundscape: Focus on the auditory elements—the “creak” and the “whisper.”

• What to Look For: How these sounds contribute to the growing tension and the speaker’s paranoia.
• Mistake to Avoid: Dismissing these as mere background noise; they are integral to the poem’s psychological effect.

5. Visual and Tactile Impressions: Note the descriptions of “shadows” and the feeling of being watched.

• What to Look For: The interplay between the visible and the suggested, creating a sense of pervasive threat.
• Mistake to Avoid: Confining interpretation to purely visual evidence, ignoring the poem’s evocative use of other senses.

6. The Speaker’s Internal State: Track the speaker’s emotional arc from apprehension to fear.

• What to Look For: The internal monologue and the manifestation of psychological distress.
• Mistake to Avoid: Separating the speaker’s internal experience from the external setting; they are deeply intertwined.

7. The Poem’s Climax (or Lack Thereof): Consider the poem’s ending and its open-ended nature.

• What to Look For: The lingering sense of dread and the unresolved tension.
• Mistake to Avoid: Expecting a definitive resolution; the poem’s strength lies in its sustained ambiguity.

8. Thematic Synthesis: Reflect on the overarching themes of isolation, fear of the unknown, and the psychological impact of perceived threats.

• What to Look For: The poem’s commentary on human vulnerability and the darkness that can reside within or outside of us.
• Mistake to Avoid: Applying a single, rigid interpretation; the poem invites multiple readings.

Common Myths About The Return

• Myth: The poem clearly depicts a ghost or supernatural entity.
• Why it Matters: This interpretation, while popular, overlooks the poem’s more subtle psychological dimension.
• Fix: Consider the poem as a manifestation of the speaker’s internal anxieties or a metaphorical representation of past traumas returning. The ambiguity is key.
• Myth: The speaker is simply afraid of the dark or being alone.
• Why it Matters: This reduces the poem’s complexity to a simple phobia, ignoring the specific triggers and escalating dread.
• Fix: Analyze the specific details—the “creak,” the “whisper,” the sense of being followed—as cues that suggest a more specific, though unnamed, threat.

Expert Tips for Reading “The Return”

• Tip: Focus on the poem’s sonic landscape.
• Actionable Step: Identify and list every sound mentioned in the poem and consider its potential source and emotional effect.
• Common Mistake to Avoid: Treating sounds as mere descriptive elements rather than active contributors to atmosphere and suspense.
• Tip: Embrace the poem’s deliberate ambiguity.
• Actionable Step: Resist the urge to definitively name the “returning” presence. Instead, explore the feeling of its return and its impact on the speaker.
• Common Mistake to Avoid: Forcing a concrete explanation onto the poem, which can diminish its unsettling power.
• Tip: Consider the poem’s context within de la Mare’s broader work.
• Actionable Step: Research Walter de la Mare’s common themes and stylistic tendencies, such as his fascination with the uncanny and the subconscious.
• Common Mistake to Avoid: Reading “The Return” in isolation without acknowledging the author’s established literary preoccupations.

The Return by Walter de la Mare: A Deeper Dive

Walter de la Mare’s “The Return” is a masterclass in atmospheric dread, a poem that doesn’t rely on overt horror but instead cultivates a pervasive sense of unease through suggestion and psychological tension. The poem’s strength lies in its masterful control of mood, creating an experience for the reader that mirrors the speaker’s growing apprehension.

The narrative, if it can be called that, centers on a solitary figure traversing a desolate landscape. The opening lines immediately establish a stark, cold environment: “The wind has a sound in the chimney-top, / A melancholy, sighing sound.” This auditory detail is not merely descriptive; it sets a tone of loneliness and foreboding. The poem then introduces the central mystery: the sense that something is returning, a presence that the speaker both anticipates and dreads. The ambiguity surrounding this “return” is crucial. It is never explicitly defined as a person, a ghost, or even a memory, allowing it to function as a potent symbol of whatever deep-seated fears or unresolved issues the speaker carries.

De la Mare’s technique is to build this dread through subtle sensory details and the speaker’s internal reaction. The “creak” of a gate, a “whisper” that might be the wind, and the feeling of being watched are all rendered with a disquieting precision. These are not grand pronouncements of danger but small, almost insignificant events that, when compounded, create a powerful psychological effect. The poem suggests that the most profound fears are often those that are not fully understood, those that lurk on the periphery of perception.

One of the poem’s most compelling aspects is its contrarian stance on resolution. In a world that often seeks clear answers and definitive conclusions, “The Return” offers none. The poem ends not with a confrontation or an explanation, but with the lingering sense of an unresolved presence, a chilling testament to the enduring power of the unknown. This refusal to provide a neat conclusion is precisely what makes the poem so effective and memorable, forcing the reader to carry the unease long after the final stanza.

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This question, implicitly posed by the poem’s atmosphere, highlights the poem’s engagement with the subconscious and the unsettling nature of internal landscapes.

Thematic Table: Elements of Unease

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FAQ

• Q: What is the central theme of “The Return”?
• A: The central theme revolves around the psychological impact of the unknown, the dread of an anticipated but undefined return, and the pervasive atmosphere of isolation and fear.
• Q: Is “The Return” a ghost story?
• A: While it evokes a sense of the uncanny and a supernatural feel, the poem deliberately avoids explicitly identifying the returning presence as a ghost. Its power lies in its ambiguity, allowing for psychological or metaphorical interpretations.
• Q: Why does the poem end without a clear resolution?
• A: The open-ended conclusion is a deliberate artistic choice. It amplifies the poem’s unsettling effect by leaving the reader with the lingering sense of dread and the unresolved nature of the threat, mirroring real-life anxieties that often lack definitive answers.