In 1958, British poet Elizabeth Jennings published "Absence" as part of her poetry collection titled A Sense of the World. Since its initial appearance, "Absence" has gone on to become part of the academic curriculum. The reason for its lasting power lies in its ironic paradox of being both ambiguous and relatable.
"Absence" paints a portrait of the melancholic isolation and pain that springs from recollections of happier times. The very first line, "I visited the place where we last met" is an example of this duality. That line instantly alerts the reader to expectation of a poem about grief and mourning. Indeed, it is, but it is never entirely clear who the speaker is mourning the loss of or why the loss occurred. This brings into the mix the near universality of the subject. This could be the place where last they met because the other person died soon after. Likewise, it could be the last place two lovers met before a breakup. It could even possibly be the site of that breakup. The lack of clarity creates an ambiguity that allows the poem to be a portrait of grief, whether stemming from death or life changes.
This is not just an elegy for a lost love. It is focused specifically on a place that has not changed, but that is still completely different to the speaker. Where once this place brought joy and pleasure, to be there now is to suffer sadness. It is not the changes to the place that brings on this sadness. It is not really even the changes undergone by the speaker. It is the remembrance of former happiness. The speaker transforms the happy sounds of bird chirping into an expression of thoughtless uncaring for her pain. Important to note is that speaker describes this sound of the birds as ecstatic song. The sound made by the birds also hasn't changed. Where once this sound was viewed as a happy birdsong, now it is mocking the sense of isolation felt by the speaker.
The poem is not about a relationship ripped apart by actions which created bitterness. The overwhelming sadness this place inspires is neither the result of physical changes to it nor emotional changes which take within it. The irony is that it is precisely the recollections of happiness that is stimulating the feelings of melancholy in the speaker upon return. It is an honest portrait of the complexity of psychology in which one misses the happiness of the past so much that thinking about can result in uncontrollable weeping over what has been lost.
