Alice Oswald’s poem “Body” appears in the collection “Falling Awake.” It is an intricate poem that explores the interplay between mind and body perceptions. It also delves into the connection between the human body and the natural world. She considers the body as part of a larger space with cycles of life. Alice‘s stunning, flowing language connects the body to nature, reflecting on death and renewal. For her, the body is more than flesh and bones; it holds the story of life.
Through the imagery of a badger moving across a burial ground, Alice reflects upon the intersection of life and death. The dead beneath the soil are portrayed as disoriented but quiet, while the living badger labours tirelessly above them. Eventually, the badger slips and dies, trembling, symbolising life’s transience. The fragility of life is conveyed through the image of water momentarily holding its shape in a broken jug.
The poem
The poem begins in a narrative tone, stating, “This was what happened.” The dead adjust to their new place beneath the earth. “The mud roof” symbolises the soil layer separating the living above from the dead below. It also suggests that the line between the living and the dead is fragile. As the dead settled under the earth, “something was shuffling overhead”. Shuffling suggests a disruptive movement in contrast to the stillness of death. A badger (a short-legged omnivore in the family Mustelidae) was moving along the “thin partition“ of soil that divides the living and the dead. “Thin partition” suggests the proximity and inseparable connection between the living and the dead.
The dead were in a state of confusion. Even among the dead, they struggle to understand their surroundings. They lived day and night in darkness, though they were in a space devoid of light and time. It suggests the repetitive routine of the ghostly afterlife. The dead, thinking that they are still alive, put their legs down but find themselves floating. By doing so, they try to interact with the physical world but soon realise they are not part of it. With“But that badger”, the narrative shifts suddenly from the world of the dead to the living.
The badger’s body is described as a “simple heavy box.” It denotes the heaviness of the living body, in contrast to the lightness of the dead. The “living badger”, with the weight of its body, was moving above the dead. The badger is “hard at work”, tirelessly digging the earth. “Living shovel” is a metaphor that denotes its constant connection with the living world.
The badger drops into a lane, unthinking. Unaware of its death, it digs into the earth and moves forward. Like any other living thing, it was also ignorant of its death. Its corpse falls like a suitcase with a grin like that of an open zipper, conveying the irony of the inevitable death.
The poet reflects upon the incident in the morning. Even in its last moments, the badger’s enthusiasm is commendable. It had the will of the bindweed, which grows and spreads with an unstoppable pace and strong will. The badger “went on running along the hedge,” an instinct to burrow and survive, but, trembling, it succumbed to death.
The poem closes with a beautiful image of life, a metaphor for its transitory nature. The connection between life and death is too fragile. A moment before, there was life, and the next moment, one is dead. A moment before, the water had shape in a jug; when the jug broke, it flowed and lost its shape. The broken jug represents death and existence’s fragility. Water represents all living things, which can die and decay at any moment.
Alice explores a world in which the living and the dead coexist. She feels the line between the dead and the living blurs. She contrasts the living’s active life with the dead’s disoriented yet passive existence. The badger in the poem symbolises all living things on earth and their relentless struggle to survive. Ignorant of its death, it succumbs to death at a destined moment like any other living being. The poem presents the earth as a repository for both the living and the dead. One lives and dies on its lap and is finally buried under the soil. The final image of water in a broken jug consolidates the poem’s theme. It denotes the fleeting nature of life and the inevitability of death.
Poetic Devices
The poem has rich imagery. The following lines are examples:
The dead were settling in under their mud roof.
Putting their feet down carefully and finding themselves floating.
With the grin like an opened zip.
As if in a broken jug for one backwards moment, water might keep its shape.
The badger in the poem acts as a symbol. The badger symbolises all living things on earth and their relentless struggle to survive. Ignorant of its death, it succumbs to death at a destined moment like any other living being. The broken jug and water are powerful symbols the poet uses. The poem closes with the beautiful image of life, a metaphor for its transitory nature. The connection between life and death is too fragile. A moment before, there was life, and the next moment, one is dead. A moment before, water took the shape of a broken jug; when the jug broke, the water flowed and lost its shape. The broken jug represents death and existence’s fragility. Water represents all living things, which are subject to death and decay at any moment.
The dead were settling in under their mud roof.
Putting their feet down carefully and finding themselves floating.
Bewildered were the dead
In the lines above, personification gives the dead animate qualities.
Juxtaposition contrasts the dead’s stillness with the badger’s activity. Enjambment gives the poem flow without losing continuity, denoting the uninterrupted cycle of life and death.
Alice Oswald’s poem “Body” explores the delicate balance between mortality and life through brilliant images and thought-provoking symbols.
WORKS CITED
Oswald, Alice. Dart. London: Faber & Faber, 2002.
Oswald, Alice. “A Short Story of Falling.” Falling Awake, Faber & Faber, 2016, pp. 1-2.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/89365/body-572b7393b8aa9
https://www.lyrikline.org/en/poems/body-15572
https://www.bodyliterature.com/2018/01/19/alice-oswalds-falling-awake-friday-pick/
Dr Aswathy Aravindakshan is a teacher, bilingual writer and artist with over two decades of experience in teaching English language and literature. She currently serves as Assistant Professor of English at NSS College for Women, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. Her blog, ashlit.in brings together academic resources, creative writing in Malayalam and English, and visual art. The platform features lecture notes, study materials, poems, reflections, short prose, and a curated collection of her paintings. Through this space, she seeks to foster learning, creativity, and meaningful engagement with literature and the arts.
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