Question

Anyone please give me the summary of poem CLM written by John Masefield

Answer 1

The poet dedicates this poem to his mother Caroline Masefield who dies when he was only six years old. Probably CLM is indicative of his mother’s name, CaroLine Masefield. We are still in search of a better answer.

Stanza 1

In the dark womb where I began
My mother’s life made me a man.
Through all the months of human birth
Her beauty fed my common earth.

Meaning

Womb – Mother’s uterus (the internal sac in which a baby developes)Where I began – Where my life beganThrough all the months of human birth – the ten months during which a baby grows inside its mother’s wombHer beauty fed – Childbearing mothers lose their charm and healthMy common earth –

Stanza 2

I cannot see, nor breathe, nor stir,
But through the death of some of her.
Down in the darkness of the grave
She cannot see the life she gave.

Meaning

Stir – MoveBreathe – Take breath in and outThe death of some of her – As said above, a mother’s beauty and health deteriorate/decline during pregnancyDown in the darkness of the grave – She is dead and buried in a graveShe cannot see the life she gave – The poet is sad that his mother cannot see him as she is no more





Stanza 4

If the grave’s gates could be undone,
She would not know her little son,
I am so grown. If we should meet,
She would pass by me in the street,
Unless my soul’s face let her see
My sense of what she did for me.

Meaning

If the grave’s gates could be undone,She would not know her little son, I am so grown.If we should meet, she would pass by me in the street,Unless my soul’s face let her see my sense of what she did for me.



Stanza 5

What have I done to keep in mind
My debt to her and womankind?
What woman’s happier life repays
Her for those months of wretched days?
For all my mouthless body leeched
Ere Birth’s releasing hell was reached?

Meaning

What have I done to keep in mind my debt to her and womankind?What woman’s happier life repays her for those months of wretched days?For all my mouthless body leeched ere Birth’s releasing

Stanza 6

What have I done, or tried, or said
In thanks to that dear woman dead?

Men triumph over women still,
Men trample women’s rights at will.
And man’s lust roves the world untamed.
O grave, keep shut lest I be shamed.

Meaning

What have I done, or tried, or said in thanks to that dear woman dead?Men triumph over women still, men trample women’s rights at will.And man’s lust roves the world untamed.O grave, keep shut lest I be shamed.

Answer 2

Here is your answer mate