Fast Break

Though modern in its tone, form, and narrative, “Fast Break” maintains the traditional three-part elegy order of lament, praise, and consolation. The epigraph keeps the lament private but present, establishing the context and occasion for the poem before the narrative begins. Most of the poem focuses on praise, featuring a memory of the deceased in a successful moment only slightly marred by a misstep—a flaw that serves as a reminder of the speaker’s purpose in telling this story. The poem’s consolation aims directly at its hero, the fallen player, who turns to see his basket count. The reader’s consolation comes vicariously, as we celebrate his moment of glory, sharing the speaker’s posthumous admiration.

Hirsch’s poem intentionally evokes probably the most famous elegy written in friendship—Tennyson’s “In Memoriam, A.H.H.,” a poem so embedded in our consciousness that many people can quote its lines without ever having heard of its title: “’Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all” (“In Memoriam A.H.H.,” Canto 27, Lines 15-16). Tennyson employs similar themes of brotherhood (“Dear as the mother to the son / More than my brothers are to me,” “In Memoriam A.