My understanding of the meaning of 'Here' by R.S. Thomas.
Romi Verstappen
My understanding of the meaning of ‘Here’ by R.S. Thomas.
After reading this poem through a few times, I can clearly see that there are many different interpretations that people can make. Some may come to a conclusion that the poem is about Jesus and his crucifixion, and others may believe it is about war or even from the viewpoint of an unborn child. However, I believe that all of these meanings are true in some parts of the poem, as for me, no one meaning fits perfectly as there are always some lines which do not fit under that specific meaning.
The very first line, ‘I am a man now’ stands out as ever word is a stressed syllable and is monosyllabic. This technique signals to the reader that there is a deeper meaning. This line could be referred to ‘Jesus’ as well as ‘war’. It could be referred to Jesus in the sense that Jesus was brought to Earth as God but in the form of man. It could be referred to the subject of ‘war’ as the statement could be showing that this man has come of age as a true adult, possibly due to seeing things that no man should see during battle which has destroyed his innocence. In lines 2 and 3, 'Pass your hand over my brow you can feel the place where the brains grow', passing a hand over a brow (or forehead) is something that a person does when he/she has a fever. In this case it could be referring to a fever of the mind; there is a sickness that lies underneath in the brain. In Jesus’ case this could be seen as a good thing as the fever may be Jesus’ goodness. When looking at it in the context of ‘war’, it is a bad thing as this sickness is something which will not go away; his experiences during battle will stay with him like a fever. Lines 2 and 3 could also be referred to an unborn child as ‘pass my hand over my brow’ is a caring action, and ‘you can feel the place where the brains grow’, brings across an image to the reader of the mother placing her hand onto her stomach where her baby is growing.
