'Imitations' by Dannie Abse.

Summary.

This Abse poem is simply about a relationship between a father and son. It describes the familial love between the two and it compares the growth of their love to the way nature grows, develops and stays. The fact that Abse presents their relationship as being similar to nature shows that. This father and son relationship could be Abse's relationship with his father when he was just a little boy, but it could also be a poem that describes his relationship with his son.

Key themes and ideas.

Reflection.

Abse describes the father seeing his son as his own reflection when he was young. He describes the 16 year old son being an "approximate man" and says "He is my chameleon". Now, a chameleon blends in to the things around it by changing colour and the fact the son is described as the chameleon says a few things about the relationship between the father and son. One of the things metaphor portrays about them is that the son is a spitting image of the father  when he was a 16 year old as well, but it also shows his son's true colours only come out when he is with his father and that there is a part of him in his son. The son being an "approximate man" shows that his father is proud of him, it portrays his son as an ambitious and young boy that knows what he wants in life. Abse also describes the son as a "soft diamond" which shows that the son was very precious to the father, despite already being grown up. It also suggests that his son is the only thing in his life that stands out to him the most and it portrays his son as his rock and the only person in his life that keeps him strong emotionally.

Nature.

Abse also depicts two white butterflies which could be seen as the embodiment of their relationship: "two white butterflies stumble, held each to each, as if by elastic, and pass."

This embodiment presents the father and son to be each other's companion in life and the colour white symbolizes the purity of their relationship and the sincerity within that relationship. This depiction of the two white butterflies brings light to the poem because Abse is portraying the beauty of nature and butterflies are usually seen as a symbol of development and growth and it is also seen as one of the most emblematic totem animals that symbolizes personal transformation. So this could maybe be a symbol of his son developing into a more mature age and the older he gets the more he begins to be like his father. The fact that the two butterflies are attached to each other by elastic symbolizes how close the father and son will always be how strong their familial love is. 

Abse also depicts nature through the colours that nature, he uses words such as "evergreen", "white blossom", "grass", "half blue" and "springtime" which all convey the idea of the beginning of something in life waiting to happen or even blossom. These descriptive words also paint a picture that is incipient, bright and vivid which shows that it is spring - the beginning of new life and so this could be symbolic of the son making a transition from childhood to the adolescent stage of life where he too is going to have his own problems in life. This of course is just part of life and it is something that we al go through and so it is also human nature and as well the nature in our surroundings.

Love.
Of course, one of the key themes explored in this poem is love because it is about the strong and unbreakable bond between a father and son. In the last stanza of the poem we see the father wanting to live in that moment with his son forever: "oh immortal springtime", this could also suggest that the love that the father and son have for each other is ever lasting and will never decay. Also, the tone in which it is said is almost as if the father is begging for that love between the two to never fade away which shows how significant their relationship is to him.

Youth.

It is also interesting how Abse bases this poem on the spring season where new things grow and so this could suggest a new beginning for his son as he makes that transition in to a mature age. I also got the got the idea that Abse juxtaposes between the present and past as we see the father figure reminisce back to when he was his son age. So this father figure that we have been seeing from the very beginning of the poem becomes a child for just a second and he even describes himself as a duplicate of his own father as well:

"the age my cool son is, my father alive again (I, his duplicate) his high breath, my low breath, sticking to the glass".

The fact that the father in this poem reminisces back to a time when his own father was alive suggests that he is now of old age. It also shows that he has managed to move on and progress in life as a son and father himself as times have changed.  

Links to Larkin poems.

'Dockery and Son' is the closest poem that I think can be illuminated by 'Immitations'. Although Larkin is looking at the father and son relationship from the outside and Abse being more in touch, we see both poems describing how time is precious and how quickly we progress in life before even realising how much has happened in our own lives. Realisation that we are also living the life that we are happy with is also another key element that both poems share. 

In 'Dockery and Son' by Larkin we see him being critical of the path that his friend Dockery has decided to take in life which was the path of being a father during his younger years: "Why did he think adding meant increase? To me it was dilution." Here Larkin is saying that having children and a wife makes you weaker as you will begin to put all your energy and love into your family. Larkin also sees having a family as a burden in life that can make you feel trapped and stop you from doing the things in life you might have a passion for. However, we do see Larkin realizing "how much had gone of life" and now that he is middle-aged man, he has realized that he has no wife or son to possibly fulfil that emptiness that Larkin might feel from being lonely at this age.