Unseen Commentary- Two Hands
In the poem ‘Two Hands’ the poet compares his hand with that of his father’s. He uses the ‘two hands’ as a medium to illustrate the differences between him and his father in many different aspects of life. His appreciation for his father’s hand tells us that Stallworthy aspires to be like his father, but as we probe further into the poem we find out that there is more meaning to the poem than just that.
The poet describes his father’s hand by writing, “a pencil nodding stiffly in the hand that thirteen times between breakfast and supper led a scalpel an intricate dance”. This indicates that the poet’s father is a hardworking surgeon who has performed thirteen surgeries in one day! It shows how able his father is, because performing so many surgeries in one day is not an easy task and needs a lot of skill, ability, concentration, dedication and willingness etc. The scalpel here is personified as it performs an “intricate dance”. These words signify that the poet’s father has reached the pinnacle of being skillful. The visual imagery of a scalpel dancing in the father’s hands gives an artistic feeling which makes us believe that the father performs the complex surgeries so easily with such confidence giving a sense of the kind of expert he is. On the other hand the poet describes his hand as “this other hand whose indecisions keep me cursing nightly, fingers with some style on paper elsewhere none”. It is not that he regards his hand, or on a broader sense himself, as something incapable. He in fact says that he has “some style on paper” indicating that he is a writer. But we can see the lack of confidence in him. We can also say that although he might be a decent writer, he is not as successful as his father. “Hands so alike, spade palms blunt fingers short in the joint- would have no more in common?”. The poet says that although the shape of the hands of his father and him are the same, this is as far as it goes. The work done by him cannot be judged against the work of his father’s. There is a sense of regret when he says that his hands have not served or saved anyone. The only thing they have done is that they have helped him write, but this according to him is not that big an achievement because it is no way has helped anyone else.
