Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Frederick Louis MacNeice’s "Troll's Courtship (Written After an Air Raid, April 1941)" offers a dark, existential reflection on destruction, loneliness, and unattainable desire, using the figure of a troll to explore the alienation and futility of violence. Written in the context of World War II and the devastation of air raids, the poem captures the troll’s brutish nature as he wreaks havoc, yet simultaneously reveals his deeper yearning for something he can never reach—a profound emotional or spiritual fulfillment symbolized by a distant, unattainable feminine figure.

The troll in the poem is a destructive force, representing the violence and chaos of war. He boasts of his power, having "knocked down houses" and "stamped [his] feet on the people’s heart," and his actions resemble those of bombers raining destruction from the sky. The imagery of "trundling round the sky with the executioner’s cart" and dropping "bait for corpses" conveys a sense of death delivered with mechanical efficiency. However, despite his capacity for destruction, the troll reveals a deeper emptiness: "I am a lonely Troll – nothing in the end comes right." This admission of loneliness undermines the troll’s power, suggesting that his acts of violence are ultimately unfulfilling, leaving him isolated and purposeless.

As the poem unfolds, the troll’s sense of dissatisfaction deepens. He finds himself in the aftermath of destruction, in a "smoking and tinkling dawn with fires and broken glass," yet his efforts to reach something beyond himself are in vain. The "Her" to whom he refers, an idealized figure, is unattainable. She embodies a concept he cannot fully grasp—"if I had even a human brain / I might have reached [Her]." The troll’s inability to comprehend this ideal reflects his lack of humanity and emotional depth, highlighting the disconnect between his brute force and the deeper longing for meaning or connection.

The troll’s frustration is further emphasized by his inability to conceive of anything ideal, even "ideal Death." His curses, boasts, lusts, and loneliness are all "merely a waste of breath," suggesting that his destructive actions are hollow, lacking any higher purpose or fulfillment. The troll's destructive nature and emotional void lead him to "blunder round among the ruins," leaving behind devastation without understanding the significance of what he destroys. This depiction of the troll echoes the senselessness of war, where immense damage is inflicted, but the ultimate outcome remains hollow and devoid of meaning.

MacNeice delves deeper into the troll’s psyche, describing his desire for the unattainable "Her" as rooted in a fundamental longing for something that does not exist. His nostalgia is for something he has never known—"the breasts that never gave nor could / Give milk or even warmth." This impossible desire desolates him, leaving him clutching at "shadows of [his] nullity" that haunt the dead, leafless wood. The troll’s yearning for warmth and connection, contrasted with the death and coldness he has created, captures the tragic irony of his existence: he destroys the very things he seeks.

The description of "Her" as "a cone of ice enclosing liquid fire" further illustrates the paradox of the troll’s desire. She is both "utter negation" and "positive form," embodying dissolution and destruction while also representing something constant and desired. The troll craves this figure, yet she remains distant and unattainable, always "somewhere else and not to be spoken to." His longing for her only exacerbates his frustration and loneliness, leading him to cry out "with the voice of broken bells" in the hope of summoning her. But, like the gutted walls he listens to, she remains silent, unreachable.

Ultimately, "Troll’s Courtship" explores the futility of violence and destruction, embodied in the figure of the troll, who despite his power, is left desolate and unfulfilled. MacNeice uses the troll’s desire for an unattainable feminine ideal to represent a deeper existential crisis, where the troll’s brute force is rendered meaningless in the face of his inability to achieve any lasting connection or purpose. The poem reflects on the senselessness of war and the emotional void it creates, where even the most powerful forces of destruction are left yearning for something they cannot reach.

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