They Did Not Expect This
by Vernon Scannell They did not expect this. Being neither wise nor brave And wearing only the beauty of youth's season They took the first turning quite unquestioningly And walked quickly without looking back even once. It was of course the wrong turning. First they were nagged By a small wind that tugged at their clothing like a dog; Then the rain began and there was no shelter anywhere, Only the street and the rows of houses stern as soldiers. Though the blood chilled, the endearing word burnt the tongue. There were no parks or gardens or public houses: Midnight settled and the rain paused leaving the city Enormous and still like a great sleeping seal. At last they found accommodation in a cold Furnished room where they quickly learnt to believe in ghosts; They had their hope stuffed and put on the mantelpiece But found, after a while, that they did not notice it. While she spends many hours looking in the bottoms of teacups He reads much about association football And waits for the marvellous envelope to fall: Their eyes are strangers and they rarely speak. They did not expect this. |
Vernon Scannell
Vernon Scannell was the poet of “They Did Not Expect This”. He was born Johnny Bain in Lincolnshire, England, in 1922. He was born into a poor family, but his father’s photography business picked up and family finances became less of a worry. His interests lied in the interesting combination of boxing and literature, and he was talented at both in school. At 18, Scannell enlisted in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, which took him to war in the North African desert. Determining rather quickly that the army life was not for him, Scannell deserted multiple times and was consequently arrested multiple times. The longest he was on the run was two years, and during this time, he wrote poetry, boxed for Leeds University, and tutored. After being arrested for the last time, Scannell was sent to a mental institution, and upon being discharged, he moved to London to write. Once he settled down, Scannell continued his passions of writing, both poetry and novels, boxing, and teaching. He seemed to write about what he knew; many of his works focused on wartime or boxing. His great many works earned him multiple distinctions, including Heinemann Award for Literature in 1961 and the Cholmondeley Award for poetry in 1974. He passed away in 2007 at the age of 85 as a celebrated poet living on through his memorable works. |
Commentary and Interpretations
Written in collaboration by Tommy Antonino, Madison Copeland, Annie Lashinsky, and Anna Adams
Vernon Scannell’s ekphrastic poem "They Did Not Expect This" is a free verse poem. The subject matter is based off of Walter Sickert’s painting, Ennui, which hangs in the Tate Gallery in London. The poem speaks of a couple that, it would seem, moved too quickly into marriage when they had only the “beauty of youth’s season”, and is now locked in the pact of matrimony contrary to their passionless relationship.
There was nothing definitive that happened to make the couple fall into discontentment. Instead, it happened gradually. They were first “nagged” by it; it was an inconvenience. But “then the rain began” – the real problems were coming to a head, and there was nothing to be done, “no shelter anywhere”. Suddenly it took a turn from the problematic to the toxic: “the endearing word burnt the tongue” – it physically bereaved them to be together. The deterioration continues when the “blood chilled.” (line 9) This symbolizes how cold they are to one another, as if all feelings have fled, even the anger. Now only indifference remains. This also applies to how “the rain paused leaving the city.” (line 11) Tears are no longer being shed and emotions have ceased. They no longer pay attention to each other, their “eyes are strangers”, and “they rarely speak.” (line 20) The sad part is they learn to accept it. "They quickly learn the believe in ghosts." (line 14) It's not that the house is haunted but possibly the ghosts of their pasts, who they once were. Ghost are intangible things. The couple can't go back
The troubled subject matter of the poem is reflected in the structure. The poem consists of five quatrains of similar syllabic length. All lines of the poem fall between eleven and fifteen syllables. The long winded lines represent the feeling of eternity in a negative situation. Most lines are enjambed except the last line of each quatrain, which is end-stopped with a period. Furthermore, Scannell eschews unnecessary punctuation and employs minimal comma usage, instead allowing for the line breaks to convey some grammatical significance. For example, from lines 2-3,“And wearing only the beauty of youth’s season / They took the first …” (line 2) the line break takes the place of a needed comma in following grammatical convention. However, Scannell, interestingly enough, does choose to include a few short, staccato sentences with periods serving as caesura in the first two quatrains of the poem: “They did not expect this.” (line 1) and “It was of course the wrong turning.” (line 5). These shorter sentences and definitive endings with the periods denote a sense of finality with each statement.
The first four quatrains of the poem all employ past tense, whereas only the final fifth quatrain uses present tense to describe the daily lives of the couple-mates in order to create a sense of perpetuity and ennui in their uneventful lives. Perhaps most depressing in the poem, which signifies the potential turn where their lives lose excitement is lines 15-16 in that “They had their hope stuffed and put on the mantelpiece / But found, after a while, that they did not notice it.” Indeed, Scannell’s poem conveys a pessimistic view of monogamy, home-ownership, and complacency as the first half of the poem creates an energetic, yet uncertain sense of the future for the couple until “At last they found accommodation in a cold / Furnished room” (lines 13-14) and their lives devolve into stagnation and repetition. Therefore, indeed, the couple as presented in the poem probably “did not expect this” lifestyle. They settled for what has now become their new life. Not even a beautiful home with furnishings could place a facade over their dying relationship. They each lived their own lives, neither colliding.
Other Interpretations
Most interpretations come to same consensus about what Scannell was aiming towards by writing this piece. It is nearly unanimous on the idea that the piece is a commentary on matrimony and the struggles of the monotony. There may be a lack of commentary on the piece due to the straight forward nature of the poem. Scannell very clearly makes his point known.
Other Interpretations and commentary can be found at the following websites:
http://aboutmeandfootball.blogspot.co.uk/2009/06/they-did-not-expect-this.html
http://plagiarist.com/poetry/5075/comments/