Macha Cauchois
Commentary on Adrian Henri’s Tonight at Noon
Tonight at noon is a poem that contradicts itself from the title right up to the ending using much of general knowledge and just meandering the reality around, to create absurdity in the poem.
Henri has used paradox throughout the whole poem swapping everything he mentions around. He starts using this practice since the title, ‘Tonight at Noon’ as it is impossible because noon can’t ever be at night as it is during midday. The words ‘tonight at noon’ can be seen at least once per stanza, which shows repetition throughout the poetry. The repetition of the title is effective as Henri keeps on showing that he is constantly contradicting himself.
This poem actually has no set arrangement to it, and it seems to run like a river, all soft and smooth. There is no real structure for it except for the fact that it continues on from each other. The idiom used in this poem is effortless to comprehend. There is not complex diction used in this poem, which shows that it has been targeted to a wider assembly of audience, most probable to be from the middle class. The ideas used are very simple and easy to attach yourself to which reaches Henri’s goal so that a wider audience has an thoughtful understanding of his poetry. In the last stanza, there is an uncomfortable image being presented when he talks about graveyards with the dead burying people alive. There is also an image of sadness shown on his second last line of the poem, when he says ‘you will tell me you love me’. This line is considered as a line with sadness hidden behind it as he is trying to make someone tell him that they love him, as if he is lacking love so he actually has to ask for love himself as no one is essentially enthusiastic to give him their love out of their own free will.
