Time may lighten them, but death’s footprints never quite disappear. Such is the idea woven among the lines of Owen Sheers’ poem “Border Country”, an elegy in which he uses language to evoke emotion firstly through the juxtaposition of death and childhood, secondly through the use of car terminology, and finally through the loss of innocence.

The references to death in a depiction of childhood creates a disturbing sense of unease. Indeed, the poem itself is called “Border Country”, the diction in “Border” signifying a transition between two different states, therefore, before even reading the poem, we are already curious about this conversion which, later on in the poem is revealed to be between childhood and adulthood. The poem then delves into a semantic field of words delineating death: “grave”, “headstone”, “epitaphs”, “graveyard”, all of which create prominent, dark, images of death and destruction which immediately evoke an ominous sense of apprehension. Such sentiment stands in sharp contrast to the metaphor “catching/ the commas and apostrophes/ of minnows and bullheads”, a carefree and joyful depiction of an idyllic childhood. By likening fish to literary characters, Sheers mimics the rich imagination and immense creativity of a young child at the same time as highlighting their innocence. Furthermore, the use of enjambement mirrors the fluidity and energy with which they are moving in their play, making this image even more vivid. Conversely, the flow created by the enjambment allows these lines to be read faster, perhaps revealing that though childhood is blissful, it is fleeting, hinting at something increasingly more cynical. This sense of foreboding is accentuated at the mention of the “father’s shotgun” with which Sheers abides by the principle of ‘Chekhov’s gun’ which states that no element of a story is irrelevant, and that once introduced it will invariably be of use, and, it is in the father’s death. Therefore, the shotgun is essentially a signpost of the tragedy to come, and this is reinforced by the oxymoronic idea that the children are “playing at war” “dying again and again”, demonstrating the fact that it is prevalent even in child’s play, while the plosive sounds ‘p’ and ‘d’ intensify the brutality and power of death. Additionally, the use of diacope in “again and again” not only depicts the literal relentlessness of a child’s desire for fun, but also explores the seemingly never-ending nature of loss- while the one who is lost only dies once, those left behind relive their death over and over in an endless struggle. This intertwining of playfulness with morbidity is displayed once again as Sheers reveals that he and his friend were ‘young as the buzzards’. At first glance, this simile shows the infinite potential of children by likening them to a soaring bird, able to fly anywhere. On further thought, however, a buzzard is a symbol of death, accentuating its dark presence, and our sense of dread. With such sinister foreshadowing, Sheers culminates the bone-chilling sense of doom, as well as beginning to evoke sorrow which is intensified later in the poem.

Through such impending doom ultimately, Sheers poignantly portrays the dark fruits of loss, and in combination with the use of car terminology, he evokes our sympathy. This is demonstrated firstly through the metaphorical idea of having “an elephant’s graveyard of cars”. Elephants, conventionally used a metaphor for substantial size, reflect the plethora of vehicles in the graveyard, which intensifies the prominence of death. At the same time, there is a dichotomy between the elephant from the natural world against the man-made graveyard and car. Yet though they may differ fundamentally, they still have points of similarity- the elephant dies alone, and a graveyard is a place for solitary death. Thus, the interaction between man and nature which is presented in other poems like “Farther”, “Trees”, and “The Steelworks” is strikingly depicted even in death. Furthermore, the cars are described as “a motorway pile-up”. There is a startling stillness to the image of a mound of cars created by the diction in “pile-up”; the cars should be moving but they’re not, instead they’ve all stopped and heaped together as a result. This lack of motion is reinforced by the fact that the children themselves are “sat in the driver’s seat going nowhere”. While presenting the carefree, unburdened life of a child in the sense that there are no expectations of where they need to be, this also metaphorically demonstrates loss; losing a loved one is like being glued to the spot, unable to keep up with the bustling world surrounding us even though we try to move on. By using such an analogy, Sheers makes loss seem relatable and bleak, precipitating a powerful sense of pathos and sympathy which is only intensified as Sheers laments that “Life put on the brakes” and pitched his friend “without notice”. Echoing the idea of life stopping from before, Sheers now reveals that in fact, the force of braking was so strong that his friend was thrown through the “windscreen of his youth”, highlighting how abruptly death changes lives and consequently steals away the innocence of youth. When a car stops suddenly, inertia causes us to keep moving for a short while before halting, and this happens because we quite literally want to continue moving the way we were formerly. Perhaps through this, Sheers is paralleling the way in which we don’t expect life to come to such a standstill, trying to move on until we realise that we’re stuck. Furthermore, the fact that this happens “without notice”, stresses how unforeseeable these casualties are in life; yet, even if there is a given warning, it is impossible to truly be prepared for loss- it is a forceful blow that leaves one prostrated. Through such melancholy, Sheers elevates the sense of tragedy, heavily evoking the reader’s sympathy.

Beyond just the loss of a loved one, the loss of innocence is reflected through the loss of youth, evoking a deep sense of sorrow. This is signposted in the “rusting to red” of the cars, the diction in “rust” emphasising the sense of deterioration and destruction, while the diction in “red” connotes violence and blood. This could be an allusion to father’s literal death and its bloody scene, but could also be a metaphor for the atrophy of innocence as Sheers’ friend enters adulthood. This sense of decay is made even more poignant through the alliteration of the liquid ‘r’ sound, slowing down the pace with which this line is read, allowing the reader to reflect on the sense of sorrow. The gravity of the situation is heightened as the father is described as “a poppy sown in the unripe corn”. The diction in “unripe” reveals prematurity which bitterly reflects the way in which the father was too young to die, as well as how his son was too young to lose his innocence. On top of this, the “poppy” is emblematic of death and war, a cynical reminder of the cause of this misery, which is intensified by the fact that the line concludes with an end stop, creating a sense of finality which describes not only the end of life, but also the end of innocence. The poem then shifts to the present, when Sheers “came back once to find the cars smaller’. This blunt observation reveals how he has not only grown up physically, but also mentally- the cars seem smaller because he has grown taller, but perhaps also because they have lost their wondrous qualities. The limitless imagination quintessential to childhood has now departed, and this is reinforced by the fact that the cars have “diminished to steel and stone”, the use of sibilance creating a sense of bitterness and remorse for the magic that once was, but is no longer there, and the mystical playground that is now “just cars in a quarry”. Has the quarry really lost its wonder though, or has Sheers just lost his imagination? The latter is something we all go through, and here it is gloomily presented, evoking a deep sense of grief. In the final stanza, Sheers links back to the second, describing “spittle sheep” and “the ink-dot cows”. These metaphors create rather endearing images of great delicacy, and it’s almost as if it’s childhood again, except the innocence of that time is now irretrievable. A large animal like a cow is only a small dot, and the sheep are even smaller flecks, illustrating how far away they are which in turn reflects how childhood is but a distant dream for Sheers and his friend. The world seems immeasurably vast, making the “boy” seem small and vulnerable, especially since he is not really a “boy” anymore, but rather an adult who desperately needs, but can no longer receive the fatherly love he needed as a “boy”. Our heartbreak at such a despairing prospect is brought to a climax when reflecting upon the title of the poem, “Border Country”, an allusion to Raymond William’s eponymous (perhaps) novel, yet unlike the novel in which a son is able to return home to care for his father, Sheers’ friend has no father left to care for, evoking the bone-chilling sense of mourning in spades.

Through the simultaneous presentation of death and childhood, Sheers evokes dread which is transformed into sympathy through the use of cars as an extended metaphor for loss, and by exploring the irrecoverable nature of innocence, a vehement sense of sadness is evoked in the reader. The above is central to presenting the themes of death, mourning, and the loss of innocence, all of which enable Sheers to evoke heartfelt emotion in the reader. Although the poem is dark, it ends on a positive note; it may be insurmountably difficult, but Sheers’ friend is still trying to come in touch with who he once was, and perhaps move on from there. Ironically, children yearn to be older, and only when they grow up do they realise how precious youth was.