At six o'clock
with his open casket
on their stooping shoulders
the frozen mourners shiver
and stumble in the mud.
The lilac march rises
in the sombre streets
and a eulogy draped in black
weeps silently in the censer.
When he closed his eyes at three in the afternoon under the shade of a dwarf lament a moth puzzled by the brightness of the moon
sat trembling on his upper lip.
It lay in his tobacco-stained moustache
with eyes full of sorcery and sang
"La Cumparsita"
accompanied by three doleful voices
of gypsies on guitars.
His mother howling like a jilted dog,
called out to him by his name at birth;
a name no one had heard since the day
the laughing son was born.
The padre ran to the house of endless misery but all he saw were two soldiers crossing off his name from their list
and night's first-born child fleeing through the side gate disguised as a yellow moth.
A few words about the poem…
Political Poems: The Story of the Laughing Son
Gabriel García Márquez’s novel "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" provides fertile ground for poetic adaptation, and "The Story of the Laughing Son" is a compelling example within the genre of Political poems. This poem weaves a narrative that captures the tragedy and fatalism intrinsic to the source material, presenting a scene rich in imagery and steeped in sorrow.
At its core, the poem opens with a stark image: "At six o'clock / with his open casket / on their stooping shoulders / the frozen mourners shiver / and stumble in the mud." This vignette immediately sets the sombre tone, depicting the weight of grief borne by the community. The use of "frozen mourners" and "stumble in the mud" juxtaposes physical and emotional burdens, anchoring the reader in a moment of collective mourning.
The poem's lilac march through solemn streets evokes a sense of ritualistic mourning, enhanced by the "eulogy draped in black" that "weeps silently in the censer." This evocative detail situates the reader in a procession that is as much about the performance of grief as it is about its personal experience. The use of lilac, a colour often associated with spring and renewal, contrasts sharply with the funereal imagery, suggesting a bittersweet tension between life and death.
When the poem shifts to the moment of death at three in the afternoon, it focuses on a surreal detail: "a moth puzzled by the brightness of the moon / sat trembling on his upper lip." This image imbues the scene with a quiet, almost mystical quality. The moth, an emblem of transformation and fleetingness, adds a layer of symbolism to the narrative, echoing themes of mortality and the ephemeral nature of life. The moth's presence on the "tobacco-stained moustache" further humanizes the deceased, connecting him to everyday, earthy elements even in death.
The inclusion of "La Cumparsita," a well-known tango, sung by "three doleful voices / of gypsies on guitars," infuses the scene with cultural resonance and a melancholic melody. This auditory element enriches the reader's sensory experience, blending the visual and the auditory to deepen the emotional impact.
The poem reaches a poignant climax with the mother’s anguished cry, "howling like a jilted dog," as she invokes his birth name, a name long forgotten by the community. This moment underscores the profound personal loss and the disjunction between public and private grief. The mother’s cry is both a lamentation and a reclamation of identity, highlighting the enduring bond between parent and child even in death.
The narrative's conclusion introduces the padre and the ominous detail of "two soldiers crossing off / his name from their list," a clear nod to the premeditated nature of the assassination. This bureaucratic action starkly contrasts with the mother's visceral grief, underscoring the cold, detached machinery of death.
The final image of "night's first-born child / fleeing through the side gate / disguised as a yellow moth" brings the poem full circle, returning to the motif of the moth. This transformation reveals that the moth resting on his moustache earlier was Death in disguise. The moth's escape symbolizes the release of the soul from earthly constraints, with Death assuming the form of the yellow moth, bringing about the ultimate encounter with eternity. The yellow moth, bright and conspicuous, becomes a symbol of Death's persistent presence and the inevitable fate awaiting all.
"The Story of the Laughing Son" stands as a powerful example of political poems, capturing the essence of Márquez’s narrative while imbuing it with its own poetic life. Through its vivid imagery and poignant details, it offers a meditation on death, memory, and the enduring human spirit, ensuring its place within the rich tapestry of political poems.
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