“Tracks of the Wandering Mind”: Poem Analysis
Within Tracks of the Wandering Mind the author expresses the feeling of a deep longing for something unreachable and different from the surroundings. The protagonist is linking the things they would want to experience and the places they would want to see with trains, and they also mention railways. It leads to the conclusion that the poem is located somewhere at the train station, or simply at some part of the railway.
The major part of the poem focuses on the protagonist’s dreams of running away towards something new, something that could evoke pure emotions in them. The speaker is almost screaming with despair and sorrow at the beginning. These dreams and hopes to escape are hurtful and sad for the protagonist, as it is something they know they would never have. However, towards the end of the poem the atmosphere of craving for the unreachable created by the protagonist changes, as they state that they “bid adieu to their dreams of escape”. The attitude of the speaker loses saturation throughout the poem, only to appear completely desperate and hopeless at the very end. It gives the impression of giving up on their dreams, and letting go of the only emotion the speaker was feeling – sadness.
The strongest aspect of the poem is the dramatic shift from expressing the thoughts and feelings of a speaker to the train passing by. It creates a symbolic ending, which could be interpreted in different ways. The end of the poem might be interpreted as a new beginning, as the protagonist chooses to stop focusing on the miseries and give a chance to their actual surroundings, to try to live in a moment. It is highlighted by the fact that the only time a speaker’s thoughts were replaced by actions within their surroundings were shown in the last sentence. However, at the same time it might be interpreted as a complete loss of hope for anything in life, as the last feelings abandon the speaker, and they rather feel like a soulless body.
In order to reach its full potential, this poem should have been focused more on bringing out the topics of symbolism. The train acts as an excellent example of a symbolic detail; however, additional elements would create a multifaceted expression. Finally, the links among the elements of symbolism would create an impression of a web with layers of meaning, which would make it more relatable to the readers and more intriguing to interpret.