In much of Duran’s poetry he captures the universal

reliance we all feel on other people to fulfill our insatiable

need for contentment and satisfaction with ourselves,
which for many of us continues throughout our lives.
We can see durcan become consciously aware of his
search for a complete connection and his huge reliance
on tactile and intimate contact both emotional and
physical. Also while trying to attain this connection he
often demonstrates the disembodiment he feels from
himself establishing a new form of loneliness he has
now concocted.
Durcan has even stated before that people are the air
that he breathes’ and that he feels as though he always
comes alive when he’s with people; but consequently in
isolation he tends to dwindle. This is a worldwide
perception many people endure in modern society, but
feel as though they are alone on that thought. Durcan
helps his readers recognise this is a common encounter
many people may feel exasperated with , but assuredly
now know of its commonality through many of his poems
such as The Girl with the keys to Pearse’s Cottage,
Nessa, Parents, father’s day and the Arnolfini’s
marriage.

One of Durcan’s earliest poems "The Girl with the keys

to Pearse’s cottage" sees Durcan deal with his need for
intimacy or a connection with another as he contemplate
the nature of expectation and reality through his
exploration of his voyeuristic fascination with the girl who
holds the keys. Although he says that he has met her
there is no other connection formed between the two of
them in this poem suggesting that the relationship is
based on idolatry and adoration rather than any form of
true intimacy.
This lack of personal connection or any true sense of
affection between the two certainly re-appears as a motif
in his other poems for example "parents", where Durcan
feels the same need for connection with his child, but
again most suffer alone.
Although the poem can be interpreted in several ways
most believe this poem is about Durcan’s first
experience of love for an unattainable woman. He only
states he has met her once but throughout the poem
even that becomes questionable, making us believe his
fascination with her is somewhat delusional or perhaps
and she is the first woman he had hoped for a future
with or merely dreamed of one with " our world was
strange because it had no Future ".Structurally
speaking, the poem is typical of his earlier style and is
written in orderly quatrains which flow quite rhythmically
from one to the next. He also has the poem written in
first person, employing a reflective voice in a wistful and
nostalgic way which is a hallmark of his work. Durcans
use of juxtaposition and subversion is recurrent
throughout his body of work and is also present in this
poem; the girls darkness is contrasted to her brightness
“her dark hair was darker because her smile was so
bright” and may have caused durcan fear or confusion
about his feelings towards or her and where they could
lead him. Similarly the subversion use of “moon” and
“sun” which are sources of light are used to emphasize
her innate darkness and the mystery that pervades
her .He also uses juxtaposition of appearance and
reality in an attempt to articulate his feelings on the
liminality of relationships. I personally believe Durcan
was subconsciously aware of the risk of desiring an
unattainable woman and the later downfall it would
cause him, yet still followed through with placing his
reliance on her in the hope of fulfilling his need for
contentment and security that he knew relationships
would provide.

Durcan’s poem Nessa is one of his prime examples of

his dependency on relationships and the power they has
over him. We see the more he feels as though he is
losing control the more intoxicated he becomes by
love ,in particularly by Nessa and her beguiling ways.
Durcan fixates the poem on the insatiable love that he
as a young and naive man felt for Nessa, and how
quickly he fell for her charms. While he tries to focus on
the wonderful nature of new love, he also admits to
feeling overwhelmed as he states he ‘very nearly
drowned’, this idea of love pulling you in and leaving you
breathless is a recurring motif throughout the poem and
suggest that Durcan never truly felt in control of his
emotional state when in the presence of Nessa. This
also creates unsettling imagery of the powerlessness
and vulnerability that he felt in the relationship, which is
also seen in “The Girl with the keys to Pearse’s
Cottage”. Durcan states “she took me by the index
finger” indicating a lack of control or submission on his
behalf to Nessa, thus resulting in Durcan feeling as
though he may lose his identity and later causing a
disembodiment from himself. As much as Durcan desire
this, undoubtedly this is what cost him his overall feeling
of being overwhelmed in their relationship. Here it is
most evident of Durcan’s devotion to Nessa in the
relationship and his hope for contentment and
satisfaction with himself through his complete
submission to her. Although as the poem brings us from
his past memories in the first three stanzas to the
present tense in the last stanza , the refrain changes
and becomes far more personal showing the constantly
changing nature of the relationship . Also his use of
repeated phrases such as 'and that' reinforces the
narrative element in the poem and suggests that the
relationship was always changing and is increasing in
complexity. As Durcan admits 'I am very nearly drowned
'it shows his position in present tense in the sea of
confusion he is now trying to pass alone, doubtlessly
without Nessa. Although the lack of personal control
durcan feels is omnipresent throughout much of
his work, for example in “Parent” when he resents the
fact he cannot always protect and connect with his child,
he still manages to demonstrate his knowledge of the
human condition and that our search for love,
excitement and companionship, can inevitably force us
into danger that we could not have before imagined.

Next after Durcan informs us on his first meeting of

Nessa and his blooming relationship with her he brings
us to the later stages of the relationship where they are
now married and have a child. It is the poem ‘Parents’
where Durcan encapsulates the utter loneliness that
the painful distance and separation from those you love
the most can cause. His dependency on continuously
connecting with his most loved ones i.e. his child is
again, omnipresent throughout.
Durcan creates a tangible and excruciatingly heartfelt
image of his child lost to a world of unconsciousness,
and his desire to connect to his child plunges him into
state of loneliness, a loneliness felt by all parents is
amplified by Durcans reliance on constant tactile and
intimate contact with others.
Durcan states “ in her sleep she is calling out to them”
showing the simultaneous need for connection on both
ends.
Durcan utilises nautical imagery throughout the poem,
the imagery of the sea and the terrible separation which
it causes is the primary metaphor of the poem, the sea
is what separates him from his daughter in a similarly
dangerous fashion to when it was a whirlpool used to
describe his infatuation with Nessa. It seems as though
Durcan returns to his use of nautical imagery in times of
crisis and perhaps when he feels most isolated and in
need of companionship or connection with others.
Although Durcan knows that he will only feel this way for
a liminal amount of time, his awareness of the fact it will
be a daily re-occurrence intensifies the pain of
separation he feels. I personally think this is ironically a
selfish act as he is relying on the constant connection to
his child in order to fulfill his own insatiable contentment.
Also the structure of the poem is written in a simplistic
non-grandiose manner, helping us to focus our attention
in words and the meaning of the poem itself. This
unbroken continuous stanza assist in grounding the
theme and emphasises the narrative quality that he is
trying to convey and while the first half focuses on the
helplessness of Durcan and Nessa, the latter stages
shift to making the child experience the central theme,
thus emphasising the symbiotic emotional state on both
sides. I personally think this way of giving an impartial
voice to both sides of the relationship helps effectively
convey the reliance we all feel on our loved ones to
appease our loneliness in modern society.

It is in Durcans poem ‘Father’s day’ that he addresses

the struggles and tribulations which are often experience
by couples in the advanced stages of marriage,
indicating of his own marital troubles with Nessa. It
begins in a chaotic fashion with the poet rushing around
as he is aware of the cab outside which is waiting for his
departure” the taxi was ticking over outside in the street,
all the neighbours noticing it”. Nessa have a strange
request of deliverance of an axe to her sister. This small
act is the pivotal image of the poem as the axe may be a
symbol for his daughters as he constantly desires for it
to be protected, linking to his need to care for and
connect with the child in ‘parents’. Or it could symbolise
the violent or aggressive nature that is now the
relationship. This is in complete juxtaposition to ‘Nessa’
in many ways as it removes all idealism and idolatry and
is instead laced with bitterness and resentment. This is
an indication of Durcan realisation that his relationship
with Nessa may not always be filled with love or meant
to last. This awareness could suggest that the isolation
and affliction Durcan is inclined to feel since he now
admits to losing his connection with Nessa stating “I
could see she was glad to see me go away for a while”.
Ironically, although the poem is titled ‘Father’s day’ there
is no acknowledgement of this day of appreciation
mentioned, the only association with this is that it is
made clear that the children have now left home and
gone away which is also the key anaphora in the poem.
Again the lack of control Durcan feels is omnipresent in
the poem from start to finish it is as though he is a
spectator forced to watch the events unfolding but
unable to shape. We can now see the shift of Durcan
being subconscious to consciously aware that
relationships are liminal spaces and not the eternal
states which many including him believed them to be.
I personally think the poem father’s day is quite
lonesome as we can see durcans attempt to make his
marriage work by being passive and to surrender his
opinion in order to please Nessa, even though he is
aware she does not love him he still feels guilty for this.
We can see he is becoming receptive of the limitations
of human relationships and perhaps that he cannot
always rely on the companionship of others for his own
elation, leading us onto his next poem, The Arnolfini's
Marriage.
It's only in this poem that we see one of Durcan's final
opinions in his journey of true love and marriage. It is
here that he questions the two states of existence
between loneliness and companionship and the effects
of becoming part of a collective .In tangent to his other
poems he uses this poetic work to explore another
relationship which is the Arnolfini’s couple. This poem is
atypical from Durcan’s usual work, and is quite
refreshing, as he is a poet whose hallmark is to delve
into the troves of his personal history for inspiration and
memory. Even its structure is unusual as it is written in a
more uniform and restricted form than is expected from
his creative era. Little is known about the Arnolfini
couple and Durcan uses this to his advantage by adding
his own colour to their story. Ironically, although the
couple threaten the reader not to invade their privacy,
we are given quite a lot of access to their relationship.
Perhaps the couple are portrayed as aloof and arrogant
about their status and committed state of relationship
because they want the reader to know they’re immune
to any form of corruption. We are drawn into a vision of
the couple which is conceited and beyond any form of
meaningful connection. This utterly juxtaposes the
marital state which we seen ‘Father’s Day’ and ’Parents’
as we are permitted full access to these moments of
matrimony in all their dysfunctional bliss .They want us
to know they are content and happy but nothing else .
Durcan emphasises the intimacy of marriage and it's
isolation from the outside world throughout much of his
work, and in this poem he does this again by his use of
an anaphora of the term ‘we’. Oddly, even though they
pride themselves on their unity and ability to say ‘we’,
only one speaks for them for the entirety of the poem.
Maybe this is durcans way of questioning if one may risk
losing their independent voice and simply become just
part of a collective once married? This is used multiple
times in every stanza apart from the second last stanza
which is focused on the reader, it's switches from ‘we’
–“the most relaxing word in our vocabulary” to one of the
most isolating words ‘you’. I think this is Durcans
interpretation of what that powerful couple would have
thought of him. He stated before some people choose to
live alone but he didn't, he regards it as a failure for
himself. Here he is referring to his failed marriage with
Nessa, clearly expressing his shame in the fact he
needs and desires to be with someone in a relationship
but could not sustain that relationship. He sees it as a
personal failure, showing he still has respect for the
union ship of marriage and see’s the Arnolfini’s as a
prime example of this. It is almost as if there are only
two state of existence for Durcan, an intensely
intoxicating an overwhelming state of ‘we’ or union or its
alternative-a failed existence of ‘you’- a lonely failure of
a life spent away from others and from in dark and I is
any chance of happiness. In this poem he deals with his
own feelings of personal failure and how he still respects
the unity of marriage.
Throughout Durcans work we can see his perception on
relationships slightly alter after his own involvement in
the world of love and heartbreak. His own maturity and
understanding develops though each stage of his life we
can see through his work and the realization that having
a relationship is not the one true purpose in life. Albeit
we may wish to have someone to rely on in life, to
appease our loneliness and provide love and
excitement, we may ultimately only have ourselves for
quite some part of our existence. This is an essential
lesson for the reader to accept and learn from also, as it
heavily applies to the ongoing struggles exposed to us in
modern life.