Delay

Context of ‘Delay’ by Elizabeth Jennings

Let's explore the biographical and literary context of the poem.

Biographical context

Elizabeth Jennings was an English poet who lived from 1926 to 2001. According to Michael Schmidt, she was 'the most unconditionally loved poet of her generation'.¹

Between 1944 and 1947, Jennings studied English at St Anne’s College, Oxford University. Prior to this, she attended Rye St Antony School in Headington and Oxford High School. After graduating, Jennings worked at Oxford City Library, where she developed an interest in writing poetry.

Literary context

Elizabeth Jennings' was part of a group of writers called 'The Movement'. This group of poets wasn't known for breaking the mould; instead, they became renowned for their lyric poetry and mastery of meter and rhyme.

'Delay' opened Jennings' section in the New Lines Anthology and subsequently featured in many more of her collections such as New Collected Poems (1986) and Selected Poems (1979). The poem was also published as part of Poems On The Underground.

Over the course of her lifetime, Jennings published and was included in around thirty different poetry collections.

Somerset Maugham award: A British literary prize given by the Society of Authors, set up by William Somerset Maugham in 1947.

‘Delay’ by Elizabeth Jennings poem

Summary and analysis of ‘Delay’ by Elizabeth Jennings

'Delay' explores how romantic love can be impacted by coincidence and chance. The poem uses an extended metaphor of starlight as a representation of love.

Title

The poem's title has an ambiguity to it, consisting of a single word; 'Delay'. As a verb, 'Delay' means the action of postponing something or to causing something to be late. As a noun, 'Delay' means an instance of something being postponed or the interlude of time between when an event was meant to happen and when it actually happens.

In any case, the word delay has connotations of lateness and lost time, introducing time as a theme from the poem's beginning.

Stanza one

The first stanza of the poem introduces the 'star' describing its 'radiance' as its light travels to earth. Imagery associated with light dominates this stanza, contributing to the later metaphor of the 'star' representing love. However, there is an element of uncertainty too in the stanza, as the narrator admits that they 'may never see' the light from the star reach earth.

Alongside this, caesura and enjambment is utilised in the stanza to create a free-flowing rhythm amongst the regular quatrains and iambic pentameter.

Stanza one

The poem's second stanza directly introduces the theme of love in the context of a delay or misinterpretation:

Here the poet acknowledges how one may not realise that someone loves them until the 'first desire is spent', just as we may not see the light from a star on earth until the star itself has collapsed.

This second stanza effectively combines love and starlight into an extended metaphor for unrequited or unknown love.

Structure of ‘Delay’ by Elizabeth Jennings

The poem consists of two quatrains, with an ABAB rhyme scheme and iambic pentameter. The use of iambic pentameter is reflective of the poem's theme of love, due to its common use in sonnet forms. Alongside this, the ABAB rhyme scheme provides a continuous, regular rhythm, producing a considered and wistful tone throughout. However, this regular form is contrasted by the poet's use of enjambment, which allows the lines to flow between each other.

Iambic pentameter

Iambic pentameter is present throughout the poem, providing a regular rhythm, for instance:

In this line there is a total of ten syllables and five iambs, with the first syllable, 'love', being unstressed and the second, 'that', being stressed.

The rhythm of iambic pentameter is known to parallel the rhythm of a heartbeat, reflective of the poem's romantic nature.

Poetic devices in ‘Delay’ by Elizabeth Jennings

Enjambment

Enjambment is used throughout the poem. The enjambment fragments the rhythm, creating a literal delay in the poem, for instance:

The sentence does not end on the fourth line of the first stanza – it continues onto the first line of the first stanza. Here the enjambment creates a feeling of disconnect: the delay of the title becomes a literal delay in the sentence. This delay parallels the delay in the arrival of the light from the star to earth or the narrator's love for their lover.

Caesura

Caesura is used twice within the poem, on the second line of both the first and second stanza:

and

The caesura breaks up the line, forcing the reader to pause and consider exactly what is being said. This use of caesura adds to the message of delay in the poem. The communication is interrupted by punctuation, creating a delay in the poem itself.

In the first instance of caesura, the period between 'years ago' and 'now' emphasises the time difference, by forcing the reader to pause between these two references to time. The second caesura heightens the finality of 'spent', accentuating that the love

Metaphor

Throughout the poem, there is an extended metaphor of starlight as a symbol of love. This metaphor is underpinned by the opening lines of each stanza. The first stanza introduces 'the radiance of the star' while the second stanza compares 'love' to starlight and the time it takes for the light of a star to reach earth.

This extended metaphor contributes to the poem's dreamy and wistful tone. We associate stars with the night sky and the wonders of space. They are bright and glittering objects which we admire from afar, just as one may admire their love from afar.

Alternatively, the narrator may be remembering their love in a nostalgic sense, looking back at the glittering opportunities it once presented. However, like the star, this love is now too far away to be truly seen or realised.

Fig. 1 - 'the radiance of the star'.

Personification

Both love and stars are personified in the poem. For instance:

We know that the star does not literally 'lean' as it is an inanimate object. By portraying its 'radiance' as something with human attributes, Jennings emphasises its brightness and vibrancy. By bringing the concrete noun of the 'star' and abstract noun of 'love' to life, Jennings gives them their own autonomy, connecting their journeys.

Imagery and tone in 'Delay' by Elizabeth Jennings

Now we will take a look at the different ways in which imagery and tone are used in 'Delay'.

Imagery

Imagery in the poem is depicted through starlight and uncertainty/chance.

Starlight

Imagery associated with starlight is present throughout the poem, most notably portrayed through a semantic field of light: 'radiance', 'shining', 'light', 'glitters'. This semantic field builds on the image of the star, allowing its radiance to travel across the entire poem, just as the light of the star travels to earth.

Uncertainty / Chance

Imagery associated with delayed time and uncertainty or chance is also prevalent in the poem. For instance, the modal verb 'may' is used twice in the poem. The use of this verb indicates that while there is a chance of love finding the narrator, there is also a chance that the starlight may never be seen by the narrator: both of these things are uncertain. This builds on the associations of the poem's title of withheld/delayed time.

Tone

The passage of time

The passage of time is apparent as a theme from the poem's title 'Delay'. 'Delay' holds connotations of lateness, relating to a pause or postponement. Throughout the poem, this theme becomes increasingly evident through the extended metaphor of starlight. Seeing the light of a star from Earth relies on the coincidence of timing, as demonstrated between the first and second stanza of the poem:

Romantic love

Romantic love is particularly prevalent as a theme in the second stanza as demonstrated by Jennings' use of the words 'love', 'desire', and 'beautiful'. As discussed, the theme of time intersects with the theme of romantic love to create a sense of uncertainty. For example, in the final stanza Jennings writes:

The imperative phrase 'must wait' implies that the star has to wait for its light to travel to earth, just as a lover must wait for their love to be received by another. The use of enjambment adds to this sense of uncertainty; while the poem discusses love, it does not describe it as a definite outcome. Once love arrives it 'may find us somewhere else'. Just as the sentences of the poem flow freely, love also acts in a free and uncertain way.

The theme of love is also apparent in the poem's use of iambic pentameter which, as mentioned, resembles a heartbeat.

¹ Elizabeth Jennings. New Collected Poems. 2002.