Howard Nelson states that the poem "focuses on Yeats calls 'honey generation' the joys of lovemaking that lead to birth and the almost-instinctive yet gloriously conscious love parents and child" (Nelson 240). Nelson states that the poem is "balanced by ironies" (Nelson 238) noting that the most quiet intimate noises seem to attract the boy to his parents like a magnet. The poem "celebrates the root force of mortality's beginning: not death but the lovemaking that can lead to birth" (239).

The poem captures the love between and man and a woman in the final stanza, the poet sating:

In the half darkness we look at each other and smile and touch arms across this little, startlingly muscled body -- this one whom habit of memory propels to the ground of his making, sleeper only the mortal sounds can sing awake, this blessing love gives again into our arms. (16-21)

This image allows us to see the fullness of mature love. The poet looks at his wife and all they can do is smile at the life that is occurring around them. As their arms touch across their son's muscular body, they can only giggle to themselves that he would somehow be awakened by the primal force that brought him into being. The boy is a sleeper that only the mortal sounds of his parents can "sing awake" (20). This image allows us to see what the poet thinks of his relationship with his wife. Even after years of marriage, he still looks upon their relationship as one that makes music. We also see that the poet looks upon his son as a blessing of love. What we see most, however, the evolution of love. The couple can look back on their love life together and see it in stages - the birth of their son definitely marking one of the most important...

The price of a lifetime of love is a lifetime of memories and this poem shows us how love changes as people do.
After Making Love We Hear Footsteps" is a personal poem that comes to life with irony and comedy. The poem is filled with the tenderness and realism that comes with a long-time relationship and the poet does well to bring these elements to the forefront. The poet is careful to include aspects of everyday life that bring the moment into clarity. The poem may seem simple at first reading but it is actually a peek into the poet's personal life, which that makes the poem more real to us. We can see it, feel it and, most of all, we know it to be a true representative of parental life. The poem is also a celebration of love. We see the long-time couple that still revels in each other's lovemaking and we see the parent-child love as well. Kinnell has successfully woven the two together to create a tender, yet realistic poem about domestic life. This life is not something to be dreaded - on the contrary, it is something that we should strive for because, in the end, the poet pints out that love and contentment are some of the most important elements of a good life.

Works Cited

Richard J. Calhoun. Galway Kinnell; Overview. GALE Resource Database. http://www.infotrac.galegroup.com Site Accessed April 03, 2008.

Kinnell, Galway. "After Making Love We Hear Footsteps." Poets.org. http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15927SiteAssessed April 02, 2008.

MacGowan, Christopher. Twentieth-century American Poetry. New York: Blackwell Publishing. 2004.

Nelson, Howard. On the Poetry of Galway Kinnell: the Wages of Dying. Ann Arbor: The university of Michigan Press. 2002.