Old Love

The speaker compares their grieving uncle to “a prophet in the Bible” (Line 3), “shaking his head” (Line 6) as if in disbelief that God would allow pain and suffering. Old Testament prophets, such as Ezekiel and Jeremiah, witnessed some of the darkest periods in the history of ancient Israel (invasions by foreign invaders, mass casualties in brutal warfare, exile from ancestral land), yet they had to accept that this was God’s will and that He had a plan for His chosen people. One can easily imagine them looking at the sky and asking why but receiving no answer other than their faith. In a similar image, the speaker witnesses their “quiet uncle raising his voice / to silence” (Lines 9-10). This silence may signify the absence of God’s response to the sorrow of the faithful or the absence of the deceased loved one’s voice. It certainly emphasizes the loneliness the uncle must feel after losing the love of his life and a companion of 60 years.

The speaker also compares their uncle to “a tree alone at night” (Line 13). This vivid simile suggests that the uncle is solid and strong, like a mature tree, deeply rooted in the love and life he shared with the same woman for 60 years.