(1) Discuss Jennings's presentation of love and companionship and its impact upon the self. You should make detailed reference to at least two poems in your answer.

(2) Discuss how Jennings creates a mood of resignation in her writing. You should make detailed reference to at least two poems in your answer.

Love and companionship are themes prevalent throughout Jennings’ New Selected Poems, presented through the lenses of the various personae. Though the caring nature of love and companionship is brought out at times, more often than not, the subversion of such tenderness is explored to reflect the fragmented, oppressed state of the mind and self, for instance in “Father to Son”. 

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Distance in a relationship results in an engulfing sense of regret and unresolved desire for reconnection. In “Father to Son”, there are hints at rhyming lines which eventually remain disjoint and disordered, pointing to the father’s unsettled mind, anxious about his detachment from his son. The poem is threaded with a theme of legacy and inheritance, as the persona wishes for his son to be a “prodigal” one and reclaim his place at his father’s side despite their current separation, reinstating their relationship as father and son. However, the persona consistently highlights that there is an unbreachable barrier between himself and his son, as he describes them unequivocally as “strangers” though they are “built” to the same “design”. Both seem completely foreign to one another in spite of their ostensible similarities. Ultimately, the persona wistfully mentions that they “each put out an empty hand”. The stark visual imagery of “empty” suggests that, though the intention for reconciliation is there, neither of them have anything concrete to offer, resulting in a father-son relationship that is doomed to fail.

Jennings constructs resignation as a result of repeated and consistent failures in reclaiming power and control. In “The Interrogator”, Jennings makes a conscious choice to feature a refrain in each stanza (“He is always right… He is always right.”), detailing the seemingly-omnipotent and omnipresent nature of the “interrogator”, creating a repeated feeling of being enveloped and trapped. Therefore, an implicit feeling of hopelessness and resignation is evoked throughout the poem through structure. Similarly, in the final stanza, Jennings subverts reader expectations through kinesthetic imagery of rebellion: “…you covered his mouth with your hand, / Pinned him down to his smooth desk chair…”. The vivid description of rebellion creates an expectation of the regaining of power from the “Interrogator”, only for it to be subverted in the next line, emphasising on its impossibility and furthering the mood of implicit resignation. Thus, resignation is created through the failed act of resistance, as displayed through her use of structure and imagery.

Resignation refers to the acceptance of something undesirable but inevitable depicted through acts of suffering, accepting the dismal reality or simply being defeated. In Jennings, there are a plethora of stylistic devices used to portray the mood of resignation through the exploration of the inner thoughts and emotions brought about by the inability to achieve one’s desired outcome and descriptions of undesirable environments. 

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In Sequence in hospital, the lack of control is depicted through the patients in a public ward. It is stated that there are "no places left to hide / And no more peace in lying still”. Here, there is a repetition of “no” which carries a resolute tone, highlighting the patients’ perpetual state of resignation and vulnerability to death. Furthermore, “no places left to hide” carries a sense of doom, portraying the perpetual state of foreboding in the patients as they await the call of death. Ironically, this happens in the ‘warm and sealed off nest’. “Nest” usually connotes the idea of home and a place of retreat that is safe. Nonetheless, in this case, it subverts the idea of security as the patients are powerless and vulnerable to death. Similarly, the sentiments of futility are mirrored in Mental Hospital Sitting Room, the speaker paints a picture of a barren setting that is devoid of redemption, where nothing can ‘fertilise or grow’, conveying the hopelessness the speaker feels towards her situation ever turning for the better. Yet, ‘nothing dies’ which compounds to the painful drag of existence where an end to her suffering is not bestowed to her, trapping her in endless entrapment in a liminal space. The speaker is cognisant of this, remarking that she ‘sits below’, while the nun’ ‘climbs’, contrasting her immobility with the desired freedom for movement and escape. Perhaps her matter of fact tone reflects tacit acceptance of her reality. Hence, her sense of immobility is keenly felt from characterisations of her setting. 

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Jennings creates a mood of resignation through the use of repetition and sequence to show the inevitability and hence reluctant acceptance of the situation.

• The Interrogator

  • Repetitive structure — the diction of “he” and “always” and their positive associations, “He is always right”, “He always has an answer”, “He always knows best”, “He can always find words”, these are the first and last lines of the first to fourth stanzas. Through this sandwiching, the feeling of inescapability is created, The factual tone taken through the use of “always” shows the acceptance towards “interrogator”’s seeming all-knowingness as an unchanging truth, despite there being no possible way he could be all of those things always. 

Jennings’ poetry presents a morbid sense of solidarity and comfort through collective suffering, highlighting how the mind and self seeks out sources of companionship and love in times of hardship. In her poetry, the personae who undergo painful or distressing experiences search for comfort through similar individuals. In the poem “patients in a public ward”, the persona is residing with other patients who are suffering. However, the sense of togetherness that the people around are similarly suffering, provides the persona with peace and comfortability in residing with them. “Yet in this warm and sealed off nest”, connotes feelings of love and protection. It gave the persona faith in the fact that although the patients were going through the same painful experience, they were huddled together to provide companionship and experience the mental and physical pain together. Knowing this gives him the reassurance to break out of his suffering, the companionship the patients provided for each other allowed for stability in times of suffering. Furthermore, ‘Night Sister’ presents an affectionate and fond recollection of the persona’s close friend, who has allowed the persona’s ‘fears (to be) silenced by the things (she has) done’. The sense of comfort that her friend provides is extremely apparent, with descriptions of how she has an innate ability to provide a sense of safety and security, effectively ridding the persona of her worries and anxieties. Amidst their ‘embarassment’ that they ‘cannot dare to show (their) sickness’, the two alike both experience feelings of discomfort and uneasiness. Yet, the persona knows that “(she) can meet (them) in (their) own distress’, showcasing how friendship and companionship are able to bring the persona out of her torment, allowing her to attain some semblance of peace. As such, feelings of love and companionship are borne through collective suffering, and in doing so, provides a form of comfort through distress.

In New Selected Poems ( underlined ) by Elizabeth Jennings, love and companionship is explored through overcoming the weight of familial bonds that burdens the personae . love and companionship are deeply intertwined aspects of human relationships, often sought after for their ability to bring fulfillment, joy, and support into our lives, however, this prevelant idea of connection is something that the personae lacks throughout the text.

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The detachment between the persona and familial figures manifests as something that is unable to be changed and controlled. In " My Grandmother" the persona draws parallels between her relationship with her Grandmother and the antqiues, hinting at the lack of connection between her and her Grandmother. "Polish was all, there was no need of love ', this suggest how the Grandmother focused a lot on the antique shop, rather than the persona, making the persona feel insignificant and thus, distanced herself from her grandmother.

This idea of detachment is further highlighted, " And when she died, I felt no grief at all", the attitude of the persona towards her grandmother's death is indifferent and apathetic. The irony of a ideal relationship one would have with their grandmother is greatly contrasted here to further bring out the disconnection that the persona feels for her grandmother.

The mood of resignation is explored through the inability for one to take action and control over their own lives. In "In a Hospital Sitting Room", the juxtaposition of "A nun is climbing" and "We patients sit below." in stanza 1 highlights that the patients have a lack of control over the situation they find themselves in, conveying the mental entrapment present among the patients. Furthemore, "sit below" suggests that the patients view themselves as looked down upon due to the fact that they are unable to move, further compounding onto their sense of hopelessness and dehumanisation. In the last stanza, the persona mentions that the patients' "only hope" is that visitors would come and talk of other things than their "disease...". The patients placing "The only hope" on visitors, and not on themselves, emphasises that they no longer have the authority over their own lives, having to rely on others to alleviate their pain and suffering. There is a sense of helplessness, as the patients feel no sense of escape and no hope for the better. The ellipses after "disease" creates an atmosphere of uncertainty and ambiguity, highlighting that the persona and patients feel that nothing will get better, choosing instead to accept their fate of illness and death. Therefore, the sense of resignation to the undesirable is seen when a lack of power or authority is felt by the patients and persona.

Familial relations are consistently used in Jennings’ poetry to portray more distant relationships, evoking a slew of emotions in the personae. ‘My Grandmother’ speaks to the estrangement between the persona and her grandmother, portraying a distant relationship leaving the persona yearning for a closer relationship with her by the end of the poem. Antiques are mentioned throughout the poem as the subject of the grandmother’s love, constantly being polished. The persona’s dissatisfaction with her relationship with her grandmother is seen in ‘as if to prove / Polish was all, there was no need of love’, where their relationship is being compared to that between the grandmother and the antiques. The half rhyme in this line acts as a prelude to the cracks in their relationship, emphasising the distance between them, as compared to the concern that the grandmother has for her antiques. In ‘Game of Chess’, there is a harkening to simpler, younger times, with vivid descriptions of a peaceful setting “gently shaded room”, providing a safe avenue for emotions to be expressed. As the poem transitions into a chess game, emotions appear increasingly repressed, with feelings barely getting the chance to appear briefly at the end of the stanza. Underneath the facade of logical, cold-hearted strategies, there lies a deep desire for reconciliation of turbulent emotions that were left unresolved. The consistent ABACC rhyme scheme reflects the constant opposition between emotionless state and intense feelings. “My king is caught now” conveys the persona being stuck in an impasse, acknowledging her conflicting states of yearning for emotion versus her avoidance of emotion.

Jennings sets a mood of resignation throughout many of her poems. The personae experience feelings of resignation in the forms of acceptance towards the state of her relationships and circumstances. Through the use of various literary devices such as setting, imagery and language, Jennings effectively conveys an atmosphere of acceptance in face of adversity throughout her poems. 

Jennings creates a mood of resignation through the use of vivid imagery to highlight the debilitating hopelessness the personae experience, and their inability to break free of the circumstances that trapped them.

In ‘Sequence in hospital,’ the persona highlights the loss of autonomy of the patients trapped in the hospital, which is regarded as a dehumanising experience. She notes that the patients “no longer seem dependent on blood, muscle and bone,” “as if air alone kept them alive.” This shows body parts, necessary for life and survival, losing their function, connoting a breakdown of the body. Here, the juxtaposition of body parts with texture and density against invisible, formless air creates the visual imagery of emaciation, emptiness and pain, in which the patient clings to life through a substanceless matter, perpetuating a sense of hopelessness. This is amplified by the fact that the patient’s life now relies on the “mere whim on the part of instrument, surgeon, nurse” as it is the only thing keeping them alive. Compounded with their biology-defying loss of autonomy, the diction of “whim” connotes a devaluation of life and personal will as the patient surrenders their body to the hospital staff and the inanimate surgical instruments. This creates a sense of invasion and helplessness in which the weak persona is subject to with no escape, emphasising on the air of resignation that permeates the poem.