Question

Read the extract and answer the questions:

‘That in the small white murder of one kiss Are born two ghosts, two Hamlets, two soliloquies. Two worlds apart, tomorrow?’

1. Explain the comparison in the poet’s reference to the ‘two Hamlets’ in your own words.
2. Murder normally leads to death, but here, murder leads to the birth of two worlds. This is ironical. Explain the irony.
3. ‘Two worlds apart’. How does this expression focus on the title of the poem, ‘Curtain’.

Answer 1

1. ‘Two Hamlets’ refers to the two people after their separation. Like Hamlet, both are left alone with their private thoughts, doubts and emotional conflicts, facing the pain of parting.
2. The irony lies in the phrase “small white murder of one kiss.” A kiss, normally an expression of love, becomes the cause of separation. Instead of one life ending, the relationship is “killed” and two separate emotional worlds are created.
3. “Two worlds apart” emphasises the idea of separation. The word “Curtain” suggests a barrier that falls between the two people, ending their closeness and leaving them in two separate worlds.