One Flesh

by Elizabeth Jennings. Sorry about spelling x

Lying apart now, each in a separate bed, He with a book, keeping the light on late, She like a girl dreaming of childhood, All men elsewhere - it is as if they wait Some new event: the book he holds unread, Her eyes fixed on the shadows overhead.

Tossed up like flotsam from a former passion, How cool they lie. They hardly ever touch, Or if they do, it is like a confession Of having little feeling - or too much. Chastity faces them, a destination For which their whole lives were a preparation.

Strangely apart, yet strangely close together, Silence between them like a thread to hold And not wind in. And time itself's a feather Touching them gently. Do they know they're old, These two who are my father and my mother Whose fire from which I came, has now grown cold?

Background
Jennings was a Roman Catholic born in the 20s. Although she had several romances in her lifetime, she never got married or had children. She died in 2001 a single woman.

Items of close textual analysis
The couple are lying in separate beds -- Does the physical separation mirror the separation of their minds?

He with a book, keeping the light on late -- As if he is trying to postpone admittance of their failed marriage.

She like a girl dreaming of childhood, All men elsewhere - it is as if they wait Some new event: the book he holds unread -- She is looking back into the past, he is looking into the future. Both are cannot concentrate (or are avoiding) the present day and their relationship. Cannot concentrate on their personal stories (like the book he holds).

Her eyes fixed on the '''shadows overhead. '''-- The shadows overhead is the dark future for the couple. Her eyes are fixed with determination to avoid the elephant in the room.

Tossed up like flotsam from a former passion, -- Word tossed could be onomatapaeic (sp), as if you can hear the sound of their relationship being flung out the window. Flotsam is the crap that gets washed up, as if what exsists now is the washed up remains of their once exciting relationship

Of having little feeling - or too much. -- Are completely void of all emotion with each other? Or do they silently hate each other. An alternative interpretation will be covered in a seperate sub-heading.

Chastity faces them -- Sibilance. Almost recreates the sound of old, dry bones clacking together. Perhaps sibilance gives idea of whipsering, as if it is shameful that they've dried up like this.

For which their whole lives were a preparation. -- Links in with Jennings' background, she never married. Perhaps she is bitter.

Strangely apart, yet strangely close together -- Will discuss in alternate interpretation.

These two who are my father and my mother -- Puts the poem into context.

Whose fire from which I came, has now grown cold? -- The passion that conceived her has completely gone. 'Fire from which I came' comes off the tounge quickly, replicating the fast passion, 'has now grown cold?' the vowels and the question mark slow down the end of the sentance, perhaps replicating their slow relationship.

Rhyme scheme
The first two stanzas have this rhyme scheme. The / indicates a slant rhyme. At a glance, the reader might not notice the slant rhyme and the poem would have a pleasant and regular rhyme scheme, the same way if people look at a couple, at first everything might seem pleasant. The introduction of a slant rhyme (a slightly off rhyme [feather/mother, confession/preparation]) shows the more uncomfortable undercurrents of the relationship.
 * A
 * B
 * /A/
 * B
 * A
 * A

The final stanzas rhyme scheme backs this point up. Again, the slant rhyme symbolises the same thing. Another thing is the way no rhyming couplet exists at the end, like you found in the other stanzas. There love might detereate the same way the structure of the poem does.
 * A
 * B
 * A
 * B
 * /A/
 * B

The alternate view
There is another interpretation of this poem, with a complete opposite theme. Maybe the elderly couple truly do love each other, without the folly of romance, in a way the narrator just cannot understand.

This would explain why they are strangely apart yet strangely close together as the young unmarried poet cannot grasp the idea of being in love without being all over each other.

The title
The title could mean one of two things. It is clearly a reference to the One Flesh mentioned in Genesis, "That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh".

Jennings could be being satirical, mocking the idea that a couple are truly one being when they are clearly "seperate".

Or, the title could be referencing the alternate take on the poem. Maybe they are one flesh, and they don't even have to touch or speak to be so.

Related texts
Feel free to add to this
 * The bible
 * The flea