I am back with another wonderful Irish love poem. This week it is a great poem, Meeting Point by Louis MacNeice. And if that name looks familiar, you would be correct. I shared some other great poems by MacNeice, such as Autumn Journal, Snow and Dublin. All of which also made it into the top 100 Irish poems list.

So it is safe to say that he is a well-known poet. I will cover some Meeting point analysis along with the poem, of course. And if you love Irish poems, why not subscribe to my weekly dose of Irish, where I send out a new Irish poem every Friday? Subscribe here and join 50’000 other subscribers.

Meeting Point By Louis MacNeice Analysis

While I did say that I would only be sharing Irish love poems, this poem has other elements, such as love, loss, and the transient nature of human relationships. It was published in his collection of poems titled “The Collected Poems of Louis MacNeice.”

“Meeting Point” by Louis MacNeice is set at a bustling train station where two lovers try to connect. The train station becomes an obstacle to their union as a passing train interrupts their tender moment.

The poem highlights the irony of yearning for closeness while being constantly separated by circumstances.

The train symbolizes life’s constant motion and its role in connecting and separating people.

Despite the missed opportunity, there’s a wistful recognition of the unpredictable and comical nature of love.

The poem Meeting Point encourages us to embrace life’s whims and cherish fleeting moments of connection. Something that is becoming less and less with modern technology and mobile phone usage.

Ultimately, the poem invites us to find humour in the dance of destiny and to appreciate the beauty in the unexpected twists of romantic adventures.

Back in the day, the couple wouldn’t have mobile phones.

So would you like to read the poem now? Yes! I think so.

Meeting Point

BY LOUIS MACNEICE

Time was away and somewhere else,

There were two glasses and two chairs

And two people with the one pulse

(Somebody stopped the moving stairs):

Time was away and somewhere else.

And they were neither up nor down;

The stream’s music did not stop

Flowing through heather, limpid brown,

Although they sat in a coffee shop

And they were neither up nor down.

The bell was silent in the air

Holding its inverted poise—

Between the clang and clang a flower,

A brazen calyx of no noise:

The bell was silent in the air.

The camels crossed the miles of sand

That stretched around the cups and plates;

The desert was their own, they planned

To portion out the stars and dates:

The camels crossed the miles of sand.

Time was away and somewhere else.

The waiter did not come, the clock

Forgot them and the radio waltz

Came out like water from a rock:

Time was away and somewhere else.

Her fingers flicked away the ash

That bloomed again in tropic trees:

Not caring if the markets crash

When they had forests such as these,

Her fingers flicked away the ash.

God or whatever means the Good

Be praised that time can stop like this,

That what the heart has understood

Can verify in the body’s peace

God or whatever means the Good.

Time was away and she was here

And life no longer what it was,

The bell was silent in the air

And all the room one glow because

Time was away and she was here.

What did you think of Meeting Point By Louis MacNeice?

I really enjoyed it. All that emotion in just eight stanzas. Poetry at its best. While the poem touches on the themes of love and loss, it also incorporates elements of humour and irony. It invites us, the reader, to find laughter and appreciation in the absurdity of life’s circumstances.

After all, are we not all here trying to figure life out?

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed learning more about the poem Meeting Point by Louis MacNeice.

Stephen Palmer