Authenticity of The Statement "Transtromer's Poems Are Deceptively Simple" According To The Poem "The Couple"

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

Boishnab 1
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
Boishnab 2
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.
Boishnab 3
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.

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

the poem “The Couple”

Name: Sonjoy Boishnab

Reg. No. 2016236066

4th Year 2nd Semester

Noor E Jannat Meem

04th December, 2020

Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet

and thoughts that are deep.

Moreover, Transtromer’s fragmented language shows the inner world of the

Transtromer’s poems are deceptively simple.

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