At The Concert - A Poem by Dannie Abse

This poem is very hypocritical of itself. Normally a concert would be seen as an event where people are very involved and connected with what is going on but straight away we can see that in this poem that persona is very distracted and disconnected as he addresses what he was doing the day before. This poem is very Typical of Abse as it is concrete and the meaning is set in stone. He doesn't like where he is and is continually wishing he could be somewhere else. Each stanza typically questions the thinking of a person in terms of reflecting on their life. 

I get the impression that music in this poem acts as an instigator for the persona to remember certain events that had happened in their life.  Although he is at the concert he wants to be somewhere else - the phrase "Do you wait, as i do" suggests the generalized desire to be somewhere else constantly than where you are - the desire for bigger and better things. The persona suggests they are bored with where they are and how they spend their time - for example being at the concert as they use the phrase "same old grass, some old flavour". The idea of a concert could also suggest repetition of music e.g. repetition of the familiar - something that is well known and has become learnt. Because of this repetition Abse could suggesting how life is just a circle and is becoming significantly less diverse. For example "Lol's sloping field" could suggest the mockery on the pointlessness of life and the ever growing decrease in the importance of how you end up living your life to some people. Suggesting Abse doesn't want to become one of those people. 

The phrase ‘Prince’s Kiss’ objectifies the music coming from the orchestra as of being of high importance and almost dreamlike like a fairy-tale, not realistic or real. Which could be echoing the persona's dreamlike state of wanting to be somewhere else that isn't reality - that doesn't exist. The 4th stanza as a whole illuminates Abse's negative view in terms of the shortness and pointlessness of it. He suggests this critical thinking applies to a large amount of people “join the queue” and that this visualization and idea of a perfect lifestyle will keep haunting you for your entire life - "stretches all the way to the old people's home". Finally Abse creates the idea that he wants to escape from the concert. "Pear tree blossoming a masquerade" A reference to nature – he wants to be in a more naturalistic environment suggesting the place he is currently in is very forced and man made – maybe an element of society he wants to avoid.