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General Introduction
Wilfrid Wilson Gibson (1878–1962) was a British poet known for his simple yet deeply moving narrative poetry. He was part of the Georgian poetry movement, which emphasized straightforward language and themes drawn from everyday life. The Stone was written in the early 20th century, a time when themes of death, grief, and human suffering were common in literature, especially with the looming horrors of World War I. Gibson’s poetry often focused on workingclass life, and The Stone reflects this by depicting a tragic accident in a quarry, exploring the emotional devastation it causes.
The Stone by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson
"And will you cut a stone for him,
To set above his head?
And will you cut a stone for him –
A stone for him?" she said.
Three days before, a splintered rock
Had struck her lover dead –
Had struck him in the quarry dead,
Where, careless of a warning call,
He loitered, while the shot was fired –
A lively stripling, brave and tall,
And sure of all his heart desired . . .
A flash, a shock,
A rumbling fall . . .
And, broken 'neath the broken rock,
A lifeless heap, with face of clay,
And still as any stone he lay,
With eyes that saw the end of all.
I went to break the news to her:
And I could hear my own heart beat
With dread of what my lips might say;
But some poor fool had sped before;
And, flinging wide her father's door,
Had blurted out the news to her,
Had struck her lover dead for her,
Had struck the girl's heart dead in her,
Had struck life, lifeless, at a word,
And dropped it at her feet:
Then hurried on his witless way,
Scarce knowing she had heard.
And when I came, she stood alone –
A woman, turned to stone:
And, though no word at all she said,
I knew that all was known.
Because her heart was dead,
She did not sigh nor moan.
His mother wept:
She could not weep.
Her lover slept:
She could not sleep.
Three days, three nights,
She did not stir:
Three days, three nights,
Were one to her,
Who never closed her eyes
From sunset to sunrise,
From dawn to evenfall –
Her tearless, staring eyes,
That, seeing naught, saw all.
The fourth night when I came from work,
I found her at my door.
"And will you cut a stone for him?"
She said: and spoke no more:
But followed me, as I went in,
And sank upon a chair;
And fixed her grey eyes on my face,
With still, unseeing stare.
And, as she waited patiently,
I could not bear to feel
Those still, grey eyes that followed me,
Those eyes that plucked the heart from me,
Those eyes that sucked the breath from me
And curdled the warm blood in me,
Those eyes that cut me to the bone,
And cut my marrow like cold steel.
And so I rose and sought a stone;
And cut it smooth and square:
And, as I worked, she sat and watched,
Beside me, in her chair.
Night after night, by candlelight,
I cut her lover's name:
Night after night, so still and white,
And like a ghost she came;
And sat beside me, in her chair,
And watched with eyes aflame.
She eyed each stroke,
And hardly stirred:
she never spoke
A single word:
And not a sound or murmur broke
The quiet, save the mallet stroke.
With still eyes ever on my hands,
With eyes that seemed to burn my hands,
My wincing, overwearied hands,
She watched, with bloodless lips apart,
And silent, indrawn breath:
And every stroke my chisel cut,
Death cut still deeper in her heart:
The two of us were chiselling,
Together, I and Death.
And when at length my job was done,
And I had laid the mallet by,
As if, at last, her peace were won,
She breathed his name, and, with a sigh,
Passed slowly through the open door:
And never crossed my threshold more.
Next night I laboured late, alone,
To cut her name upon the stone.
Analysis of The Stone by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson
Title Analysis
The title The Stone is both literal and symbolic. Literally, it refers to the gravestone the speaker is asked to carve for the deceased. Symbolically, it represents death, permanence, and emotional numbness. The grieving woman turns to "stone" in her sorrow, indicating the way grief can paralyze and harden a person. The title also reflects the poem’s central motif—how both physical and emotional stones shape the characters' experiences.
Themes in The Stone by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson
Gibson’s The Stone is a deeply evocative poem that explores themes of grief, death, emotional paralysis, love, and the impact of tragedy. Through vivid imagery and symbolism, the poem captures the devastating effects of loss on the human soul. Below is an elaborate exploration of its key themes.
1. Grief and Emotional Paralysis
The poem’s central theme is grief and its ability to immobilize the bereaved. The young woman does not react in the expected way—she does not cry, scream, or outwardly express sorrow. Instead, she becomes emotionally numb, described as "a woman, turned to stone."
Symbolism of Stone: The repeated imagery of stone reinforces her state of paralysis. She is frozen in her grief, just as the gravestone will forever mark her lover’s death.
Contrast in Mourning: While the lover’s mother weeps, the young woman "could not weep." This stark contrast highlights the different ways people process grief. Some express sorrow openly, while others become detached from their emotions.
Endurance of Grief: The woman’s suffering does not subside with time. For "three days, three nights," she remains in a trancelike state, showing how grief can consume and overwhelm a person entirely.
This theme reflects the way deep sorrow can strip a person of their ability to function, turning them into an unfeeling entity, much like the cold stone itself.
2. The Finality of Death
Death is depicted as sudden, irreversible, and merciless. The young man’s death occurs in an instant—a "flash, a shock, a rumbling fall"—leaving nothing but a lifeless body behind.
Unpredictability of Death: The accident happens while he "loitered, while the shot was fired," indicating that death can come unexpectedly, even in a moment of carelessness.
Symbolic Representation of the Quarry: The workplace where he dies represents the harsh reality of life and death. It is a place of labor, but it also becomes his grave, emphasizing the brutal nature of industrial work during Gibson’s time.
Death’s Presence in the Living: The poem suggests that death is not only for the dead—it also affects the living. The young woman’s existence becomes as lifeless as her lover’s body, and the speaker himself feels "cut to the bone" by her unseeing gaze.
Gibson presents death not just as an end, but as an experience that shapes and alters those left behind.
3. Love and Loss
The poem is a tragic love story where death disrupts youthful passion and dreams. The young man was "brave and tall, and sure of all his heart desired," yet his love is cruelly cut short.
The Lover’s Devotion: The young woman’s grief is a testament to her deep love. She does not move on; instead, she immerses herself in the process of mourning, watching over the stonecutting as if it were the only way to keep her love alive.
Unspoken Love: She does not wail or plead—her love is expressed through silent suffering. This absence of words makes her pain even more haunting, as it suggests a grief too deep for language.
Cutting the Stone as a Symbol of Love: The act of carving the gravestone is a metaphor for preserving love even after death. However, instead of bringing closure, it intensifies the sorrow, as every chisel stroke deepens her pain.
Gibson portrays love as something that does not fade with death, but instead transforms into an enduring wound.
4. The Burden of Bearing Witness to Grief
The poem also focuses on the speaker’s experience as a bystander to the tragedy. He is the one tasked with carving the gravestone, but in doing so, he also becomes a silent sufferer.
Emotional Toll of Grief: The speaker is deeply affected by the woman’s sorrow. Her "grey eyes" and "bloodless lips" disturb him, making him feel as though her grief is physically draining his energy.
The Guilt of the Messenger: He initially dreads telling her the news, but before he can, "some poor fool" blurts it out. This emphasizes how grief can be delivered in an instant, without preparation, shattering a person’s world in one sentence.
Shared Suffering: The speaker and the grieving woman are both trapped in the process of mourning. While she watches, he chisels, and together, they etch both the name of the dead and the emotional scars of the living.
This theme highlights how loss extends beyond the immediate victim, affecting everyone who must bear witness to its aftermath.
5. The Power of Silence
One of the most striking elements of the poem is the way silence dominates. The grieving woman barely speaks; instead, her presence and her eyes communicate her sorrow.
Unspoken Pain: "She never spoke / A single word." This silence makes her suffering more haunting. If she had cried or wailed, her grief might seem more manageable. But her wordless despair suggests an inner destruction beyond comfort.
The Quiet of the Stonecutting: The only sounds in the poem are the chisel strokes—"not a sound or murmur broke / The quiet, save the mallet stroke." This emphasizes how the act of carving the stone is an act of mourning, where words fail but actions carry meaning.
The Final Act of Silence: Once the stone is finished, the woman breathes her lover’s name and leaves, never to return. This departure suggests that her life, in a way, has ended too. The silence she carries with her is the silence of the grave.
By focusing on silence, Gibson portrays grief as something beyond words—something that exists in the quiet spaces between life and death.
6. Fate and Inevitability
There is an underlying sense that the tragedy was unavoidable, as though the young man was doomed from the start.
Foreshadowing of Death: The "warning call" that he ignored suggests that fate had already sealed his demise. This moment hints at how fragile life is—how one small decision can lead to an irreversible end.
The Chiseling as an Act of Fate: The process of cutting the gravestone mirrors the inescapable reality of death. Just as the stone must be shaped, so too must the young woman’s destiny be reshaped by loss.
Predetermined Grief: The woman does not fight against her sorrow; she embraces it. It is as if she knows there is no alternative—she is bound to her pain just as her lover was bound to his tragic fate.
This theme suggests that human lives are often shaped by forces beyond their control, whether it be fate, destiny, or the cold reality of existence.
Wilfrid Wilson Gibson’s The Stone is a profound meditation on grief, death, and love. The poem presents a tragic narrative where loss transforms the living into shadows of themselves. Through themes of emotional paralysis, the finality of death, and the burden of mourning, Gibson captures the way sorrow can carve into the human soul just as surely as a chisel carves into stone. The young woman, in her silence and suffering, becomes a symbol of the enduring weight of loss—a reminder that some griefs are too heavy to bear, leaving those who remain as lifeless as the ones they mourn.
Literary Devices
1. Repetition
"And will you cut a stone for him,
A stone for him?" she said.
The repetition of the request emphasizes the woman's singleminded focus on memorializing her lover. It also mimics a hypnotic, trancelike state, reinforcing her numbness.
2. Imagery
"A flash, a shock,
A rumbling fall . . .
And, broken 'neath the broken rock,
A lifeless heap, with face of clay."
This vivid description of the accident makes the reader feel the sudden, brutal nature of the death. The phrase "face of clay" dehumanizes the body, showing how life has been drained from it.
3. Symbolism
The "stone" symbolizes both physical death (the gravestone) and emotional death (the woman’s unyielding grief).
The act of carving the stone represents the way grief shapes the living, as the speaker and the woman both endure the chiseling effect of sorrow.
4. Contrast
"His mother wept: / She could not weep.
His lover slept: / She could not sleep."
The contrast between the mother’s grief and the woman’s numbness highlights different responses to loss. The mother expresses sorrow through tears, while the woman is too overwhelmed to react.
5. Personification
"And every stroke my chisel cut,
Death cut still deeper in her heart:
The two of us were chiselling,
Together, I and Death."
Death is personified as an active force working alongside the speaker. This gives death an eerie presence, reinforcing its power over the living.
6. Metaphor
"A woman, turned to stone."
This metaphor directly expresses the woman’s emotional paralysis. She becomes as unfeeling and cold as the gravestone itself, emphasizing the impact of her loss.
Language and Diction
Gibson uses simple yet powerful language. The poem is written in a straightforward, narrative style, making the emotions and events easily accessible. The diction is stark and unembellished, mirroring the rawness of grief. The use of short, clipped sentences ("She did not sigh nor moan. / She could not weep.") adds to the sense of emotional exhaustion and numbness. The dialogue is minimal, reinforcing the heavy silence that grief imposes.
Mood and Tone
Mood: The poem’s mood is somber, haunting, and deeply sorrowful. The imagery of death, the woman’s eerie silence, and the act of chiseling the stone create a ghostly, oppressive atmosphere.
Tone: The poet adopts a tone of quiet resignation. There is no attempt to offer comfort; rather, the tone underscores the relentless, inescapable weight of grief.
Context
The Stone reflects early 20thcentury themes of industrial accidents, workingclass struggles, and the emotional toll of sudden death. During Gibson’s time, industrial work was hazardous, and fatalities in quarries or factories were common. The poem also captures societal attitudes toward grief—while the mother expresses sorrow conventionally, the young woman’s reaction is more unsettling, showing how loss manifests in unpredictable ways. This aligns with psychological understandings of grief, where shock can render a person emotionally frozen.
Conclusion
Wilfrid Wilson Gibson’s The Stone is a poignant meditation on grief, love, and death. Through its simple but striking language, the poem captures the devastating aftermath of loss and the way it transforms those left behind. The woman’s silent suffering and her ultimate disappearance mirror the enduring power of grief—she becomes as much a ghost as her dead lover. The poem’s imagery and symbolism make it a powerful exploration of how mourning can turn people into shadows of themselves, frozen in time like the stone they carve.
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