TWELVE o'clock.

Along the reaches of the street

Held in a lunar synthesis,

Whispering lunar incantations

Dissolve the floors of memory

And all its clear relations,

Its divisions and precisions,

Every street lamp that I pass

Beats like a fatalistic drum,

And through the spaces of the dark

Midnight shakes the memory

As a madman shakes a dead geranium.

It’s night (twelve o’clock). They’re on a long abandoned road walking. Street lamps are flickering. His walk is familiar, perhaps he’s come here before.

Half-past one,

The street lamp sputtered,

The street lamp muttered,

The street lamp said, "Regard that woman

Who hesitates towards you in the light of the door

Which opens on her like a grin.

You see the border of her dress

Is torn and stained with sand,

And you see the corner of her eye

Twists like a crooked pin."

A woman is at a door; her dress is dirty and ripped. She watches the stroller as he walks by.  She is probably a prostitute coming to a ‘clients’ house. "The door opens on her like a grin" could mean whoever is answering the door was expecting her...

The memory throws up high and dry

A crowd of twisted things;

A twisted branch upon the beach

Eaten smooth, and polished

As if the world gave up

The secret of its skeleton,

Stiff and white.

A broken spring in a factory yard,

Rust that clings to the form that the strength has left

Hard and curled and ready to snap.

"As if the world gave up..." this line caught my attention because it supports the idea that he stroller is giving up on the world, giving up on life... he's seeing this place a whole new way, because it's the last way he'll see it.

Half-past two,

The street lamp said,

"Remark the cat which flattens itself in the gutter,

Slips out its tongue

And devours a morsel of rancid butter."

So the hand of a child, automatic,

Slipped out and pocketed a toy that was running along the quay.

I could see nothing behind that child's eye.

I have seen eyes in the street

Trying to peer through lighted shutters,

And a crab one afternoon in a pool,

An old crab with barnacles on his back,

Gripped the end of a stick which I held him.

It’s now half past two, and still he hasn’t returned to his home. Under the streetlamp, a cat is in the gutter eating butter. Then he sees a child near the harbor that. The child picks up a toy and puts it into his pocket. He has seen people watching him through the currents of their homes. He found a crab and picked it up with a stick. He is comparing himself with the crab; he has the crab in his control, just as he has his life in his own control.

Half-past three,

The lamp sputtered,

The lamp muttered in the dark.

It’s now three am. Still, he does not return home. It is as empty and lonely as the world itself.

The lamp hummed:

"Regard the moon,

La lune ne garde aucune rancune,

She winks a feeble eye,

She smiles into corners.

She smoothes the hair of the grass.

The moon has lost her memory.

A washed-out smallpox cracks her face,

Her hand twists a paper rose,

That smells of dust and old Cologne,

She is alone

With all the old nocturnal smells

That cross and cross across her brain."

The reminiscence comes

Of sunless dry geraniums

And dust in crevices,

Smells of chestnuts in the streets,

And female smells in shuttered rooms,

And cigarettes in corridors

And cocktail smells in bars."

La lune ne garde aucune rancune means  “The moon does not keep any grudge.” A woman is sitting in the grass, and brushes it with her fingers. She smiles at him weakly. She has scars on her face from small-pox. She smells of dust and cologne. A memory is triggered: Female smells in shuttered rooms and cigarettes in the corridors and cocktail smells in bars. He has visited places like this before.

The lamp said,

"Four o'clock,

Here is the number on the door.

Memory!

You have the key,

The little lamp spreads a ring on the stair,

Mount.

The bed is open; the tooth-brush hangs on the wall,

Put your shoes at the door, sleep, prepare for life."

It’s now four o’clock. He is returning home now, remembering his home with empty memories. He is preparing for bed now, but as it says, “The last twist of the knife.” It is meant to imply he is preparing for death, because of how lonely his life is.

The last twist of the knife.

The meaning of this final line is questionable. It’s possible the man is implying he is killing himself. The walk he took could have been a means of preparing himself for death. He was looking at the world around him one final time, remembering everything he'd done it it, seeing everything he'd seen... It's said one prepares ones self for death, and in the previous part it said, "Prepare for life." Could be refering to an after life.

 ---

Basically what occurs in this is a man is walking through empty streets late into the morning. He does not wish to return home because something about his life is making him unhappy. From what is said, he is lonely. He desires a woman to love and love him in return. As he walks he finds prostitutes and homeless women. He’s probably been with a woman similar to these as he has faded memory’s of them. He also sees a child, who does not appear to be happy. His eyes are lifeless. Perhaps he is relating to this child in some way. He might’ve had a dark childhood himself. During this walk it's possible as I said, that he is preparing for death. Or even just rest.

Similes:

“Every street lamp that I pass

Beats like a fatalistic drum…”

“And you see the corner of her eye

Twists like a crooked pin."

“Eaten smooth, and polished

As if the world gave up.”

Personification

He makes the street lamps speak.

“The street lamp sputtered,

The street lamp muttered,

The street lamp said, "Regard that woman…”

“The street lamp said,

"Remark the cat which flattens itself in the gutter,…”

“The lamp sputtered,

The lamp muttered in the dark.”

“The lamp hummed:

"Regard the moon,”

Word Definitions:

Feeble- Weak, frail, delicate etc…

Geranium-

 the wild geranium of eastern North America, having loose clusters of lavender flowers.

Symbols

The street lamps are often spoken of. This could be a symbol for exposure of something. Perhaps memories he has that are triggered by what he sees in the light of the street lamps.

The young child who he claimed, “I could see nothing behind that child's eye.” could possibly be a young boy he relates to. Perhaps he had a bad childhood and seeing the child reminded him of that.