poetry texts, poem archive at plagiarist.com

Here Scannell describes a marriage which has not lived up to the expectations of the couple involved in it. The couple in question married young and without much thought. Soon troubles began to arise and became more serious. Enjoyment ceases to exist for them until they become resigned to their unhappiness and so take refuge from it in daydreams; his were mainly concerned with the unrealistic hope of winning the football pools and hers centred on tea-leaf reading and/or staring aimlessly into her empty cup.
The whole poem is an elaborate metaphor in which the search for happiness is compared to the search for a comfortable house. The poem begins with the couple walking along the road, but the first step “was of course the wrong turning”. Eventually “the rain paused” and they found “a cold furnished room”, i.e. they reached a stage where they merely tolerated each other. In this cold accommodation they now live largely separate lives.
I particularly like the line, “Though the blood chilled, the endearing word burnt the tongue”. Even though there is a desperate need for some emotional warmth, any gesture of affection has become painful. Come on, we’ve all been there.

In the second half of the poem, when Scannell describes "Ghosts", I don't think he means Ghosts in the sense that many may take it, and instead means the sort of Ghost that haunts you like a bad memory and yet again, we've all been there have'nt we... :-)