This Moment: Key Quotes

“This Moment” Key Quotes:

“A neighbourhood/At dusk”: This phrase gives us the initial setting, setting the scene as an ordinary suburban neighbourhood as the day comes to an end.
“Stars rise. Moths flutter. Apples sweeten in the dark.”: Boland uses nature imagery to evoke the sense of time passing, and the peaceful tranquility of nightfall. The repetition of simple, one-word sentences creates a rhythmic, soothing tone.

“Each house sealed, each child asleep”: This line portrays the quiet domesticity of the scene. Boland often explores the significance of the female experience and domestic life in her poetry.
“A kettle whimpers on the stove”: The use of personification here creates an intimate, homely image. It suggests an unseen, domestic narrative within the calm stillness of the scene.

“One window is yellow as butter” : A single illuminated window in the twilight presents an arresting image of warmth and domestic tranquility, standing out in the quiet, encroaching darkness.
“This moment, this star, and this window”: The repetition of ‘this’ emphasises the significance of the ordinary moment, transforming it into something profound and noteworthy. It encapsulates the essential theme of the poem - finding the extraordinary in the ordinary.

“A moth has come indoors out of the night”: The intrusion of an external creature into the indoor space can be viewed as a disruption, adding a new dynamic to the quiet scene. It also highlights the mingling of the outside world with the domestic.

“Pinned to the pane, trusting its small life/ to a trembling wall of glass”: This vivid image of vulnerability encapsulates the transience and fragility of the moment. It also serves as a reflection on the poem itself - capturing and immortalising a moment of everyday life.