Analysis of Canal Bank Walk

Theme and Tone

Lines 1-4
‘Leafy-with-love banks and the green
waters of the canal
(…)
Grow with nature again as before I grew’.

In the first lines of this piece, Kavanagh

begins by describing a place that is clearly
important to him. Through lyrical, highly
descriptive language, Kavanagh speaks
about the “banks” and “green waters” of
the canal. This place is “Leafy-with-love.”
To the poet, the area is one that radiates
peace and happiness.

Kavanagh sees the canal as a place of

“redemption.” It is here that he is able to
interpret and accept the “will of God.”
Here, Kavanagh hopes to connect with
God and with nature again as before he
“grew.” This is an interesting phrase and
could refer to his own moral and spiritual
development as an individual. He seems
to see his youth as purer and more true
than his life now.

Lines 5-8
“The bright stick trapped, the breeze
adding a third
(…)
Eloquently new and abandoned to its
delirious beat.”

In the next four lines, Kavanagh goes on

to refer to an intimate scene happening
somewhere around him. These lines give
credence to the general mood present
near the canal, that it is a place of love
and happiness.
Kavanagh describes the bank as playing
host to “the couple.” They are sitting “on
an old seat,” that has assuredly been used
by similar couples innumerable times.
They are kissing there, while the breeze
blows around them. It adds a “third / party
to the couple.”

This extra addition is the presence of the

natural world. Kavanagh sees God and
nature as one and the same. He feels
closer to God by the canal. The bird builds
its nest to the “beat” of God’s word as well
as in reverence to God.

Lines 9-14
“O unworn world enrapture me, encapture
me in a web
Of fabulous grass and eternal voices by a
beech,
(…)
For this soul needs to be honoured with a
new dress woven
From green and blue things and
arguments that cannot be proven.”

These lines focus on Kavanagh and the

emotions he is seeking from the place. He
speaks of the world as being “unworn,” as
if it has a lot of potential left and much
more to give. Kavanagh also turns to
address the world itself, or more likely,
God. He asks to be “enrapture[d]” and
caught up “in a web of fabulous grass and
eternal voices by a beech”.

Kavanagh is seeking ways to be part of

the natural world, within God’s creation.
Kavanagh uses the phrase, “give me ad lib
to pray unselfconsciously.” He wants to
break down all boundaries between
himself and nature. He wants to increase
his spiritual openness to the world.
In the last two lines, Kavanagh refers to his
need to increase the range and depth of
his soul. He is seeking out “a new dress
woven” from the ephemeral, colourful
parts of the world. The “dress” is
representative of a new way of being in
the world. It is a new skin to put on and a
new lens through which to interpret
events and landscapes.