Unredeemable — Summary

long sad stories live in the country

they might hit the glass on the wings of bird

poor creatures without any art or prayer

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The poem sets up a strange comparison: long, sad stories "live in the country," as if they were creatures that make their home there, far from towns. Then they "hit the glass / on the wings of bird." The image is of a bird flying into a window, and the stories are somehow riding on it, arriving suddenly and painfully in a place where people are sheltered inside.

The last stanza turns toward pity. The birds, or perhaps the stories themselves, are "poor creatures without / any art or prayer." They have no way of shaping their suffering into something beautiful, and no way of asking for comfort. That fits the title, "Unredeemable," which suggests sorrow that can't be fixed or made meaningful.

The speaker seems quiet and sympathetic rather than angry. The mood is hushed, bleak and tender at once. The short lines add to this: the poem feels like a small, sudden thud against a window, then silence.

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