Imitations
Stanza 1
In this house,in this afternoon room,
my son and I. The other side of glass
snowflakes whitewash the shed roof and the grass
this surprised April. My son is 16,
an approximate man. He is my chameleon,
my soft diamond, my deciduous evergreen.
This stanza depicts Abse observing his 16 year old son. He is described to be just like Abse at that age 'my Chameleon' and also it is evident that loves his son because he is described to be his 'soft diamond' and his 'deciduous evergreen' which could be symbolic of something he is proud of and wants to show him to the world.
Stanza 2
Eyes half closed, he listens to pop forgeries
of music- how hard it is to know -and perhaps
dreams of some school Juliet I don't know.
Meanwhile, beyond the bending window,
gusting suddenly, despite a sky half blue,
a blur of white blossom, whiter snow.
He now observes the typical habits of his son, he believes that the music he listens to is just forgeries of music he would have listened to in his day, therefore his sons childhood is no different to what his was. He is also subconsciously questioning his sons maturity because he is questioning whether he is thinking of some 'school juliet' meaning someone who he fancies in school.
Stanza 3
And I stare, oh immortal springtime, till
I'm elsewhere and the age my cool son is,
my father alive again (I, his duplicate)
his high breath, my low breath, sticking to the glass
while two white butterflies stumble,held each
to each, as if by elastic, and pass.
The final stanza shows how this experience is completely normal and would have been experienced from generation to generation.