Dockery and Son

'Dockery and Son' is about the persona visiting his old university in Oxford and finds out that his old friend Dockery now has a son. The poem then goes on to explain how he compares his life to that of Dockery's and they way he has chosen to lead his life. One of the main themes within this poem is life choices which the persona emphasises on towards the end of the poem. This can be shown in "Those warp tight-shut, like doors" which suggests that humans do not have as much free will as we think that we do. One thing that interested me about the language used in this poem was the use of tracks as a metaphor for life choices. I also found the line "Suddenly they harden into all we've got" quite interesting as it suggests that we are not even conscious of the life choices that we are making . The line "they rear like sand-clouds, thick and close" interesting as it suggests life goes quickly and that the chances you take determine what is going to happen in your life. However, it could also suggest that an age comes in your life when you can't go back on your life choices. There are different rhyme schemes that are noticeable within the different stanzas.