Prelude to an Unwritten Masterpiece

Read 'Prelude to an Unwritten Masterpiece' by 'Siegfried Sassoon' and provide your summary and literary analysis in the comments section below.

Prelude to an Unwritten Masterpiece by Siegfried Sassoon

 You like my bird-sung gardens: wings and flowers; 
Calm landscapes for emotion; star-lit lawns; 
And Youth against the sun-rise ... ‘Not profound; 
‘But such a haunting music in the sound: 
‘Do it once more; it helps us to forget’.

Last night I dreamt an old recurring scene— 
Some complex out of childhood; (sex, of course!) 
I can’t remember how the trouble starts; 
And then I’m running blindly in the sun 
Down the old orchard, and there’s something cruel
Chasing me; someone roused to a grim pursuit 
Of clumsy anger ... Crash! I’m through the fence 
And thrusting wildly down the wood that’s dense 
With woven green of safety; paths that wind 
Moss-grown from glade to glade; and far behind,
One thwarted yell; then silence. I’ve escaped. 

That’s where it used to stop. Last night I went 
Onward until the trees were dark and huge, 
And I was lost, cut off from all return 
By swamps and birdless jungles. I’d no chance
Of getting home for tea. I woke with shivers, 
And thought of crocodiles in crawling rivers. 

Some day I’ll build (more ruggedly than Doughty) 
A dark tremendous song you’ll never hear. 
My beard will be a snow-storm, drifting whiter 
On bowed, prophetic shoulders, year by year. 
And some will say, ‘His work has grown so dreary.’ 
Others, ‘He used to be a charming writer’. 
And you, my friend, will query— 
‘Why can’t you cut it short, you pompous blighter?’

Form: Dramatic Monologue

♡Like0

Share Comments