This moving lyric poem in three sestet stanzas in unrhymed free verseis about a World War II memory that seems to have occurred in London (or somewhere with fog like London) and that continually recurs to the poetic speaker, the persona. The poetic speaker in this poem may be the poet himself because of the nature of the memory and his reaction to it.
London-like place: "station platform after an air raid. / [...] / the fog-filled valley of a night."
The persona has this recurring memory that is "strangely fresh" and wonders why a memory of such a "simple thing" should so persistently come upon him as though "fallen" upon him in the "winter wind." This memory of a day, as he tells it, is indeed simple: a country road seen from a train; a man on a train platform whistling a tune in the aftermath of a...
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bomb air raid; the fragrance of a woman's perfume in a fog-shrouded London night. This is what this poem is about:a memory of a day in the war.
A plausible thesis might be that stanza three answers the questions in stanza two by implying that he lost his wife to a war related event and that thus these seemingly random events clung together as the woman's perfume clung to his thoughts because they remind him of his lost love (perfume), her absence (whistling following air raid), and their life together (the country road).
What is the meaning and story behind the poem "Strangely Fresh" by Kuroda Saburo?
Strangely Fresh
Poem by Kuroda Saburo
it appears quite unexpectedly
from the depth of oblivion
like a lost object
that comes out
from under fallen leaves
piled up by winter winds -
the strangely fresh memory
of a moment of a day long gone by
why is it so?
what does it mean to me?
it is a simple thing
almost too simple a thing-
a deserted white country road in midsummer
which I saw from the train window traveling alone
the tune of someone's bright whistling I heard
on a station platform after an air raid
the faint scent of perfume
of a woman I passed by in the fog-filled valley of a night
In this poem, a memory "from the depth of oblivion" surprises the writer as the memory comes to him "like a lost object." Although he is remembering "a day long gone by" and although the memory "comes out from under fallen leaves piled up by winter winds-" as if it has been stored in the very back of his mind, he remembers it as if it was something that happened recently because it is "strangely fresh." The writer is not sure why he has remembered it now .
The memory is a pleasant one as the tone of this poem is calm and lingering - as supported by the poet's simple, straight-forward style - as the man recalls what he sees from the train on which he is travelling. The man feels nostalgic although there is no indication why as he reminisces over simple images of the "country road,...bright whistling..." and "the faint scent..." which obviously had a lasting impression on him.
Although it was a "fog-filled valley of a night" the memory appears to have stirred some other thoughts or events as he questions himself, confused perhaps, as to why he remembers this specific train ride. It could be a "simple passing thought BUT maybe that's "almost too simple " to believe.