Help in understanding Mr. Over by Stevie Smith

[keep smiling]

Mr. Over

Mr. Over is dead
He died fighting and true
And on his tombstone they wrote
Over to You.

And who pray is this You
To whom Mr. Over is gone?
Oh if we only knew that
We should not do wrong.

But who is this beautiful You
We all of us long for so much
Is he not our friend and our brother
Our father and such?

Yes he is this and much more
This is but a portion
A sea- drop in a bucket
Taken from the ocean

So the voices spake
Softly above my head
And a voice in my heart cried: Follow
Where he has led

And a devil’s voice cried: Happy
Happy the dead.

Stevie Smith (1950)

Any idea what the poet is trying to say?

[stlukesguild]

Before you ask anyone else to do your homework, tell us what you think... and always remember, poetry cannot be reduced to a single correct "meaning". So what do you think it says?

[keep smiling]

I have certain doubts about the poem. The "You" in the poem can be interpreted in different ways, like death, and salvation. I understand that Stevie Smith's works are always surrounding topics like death and loneliness. She once said "I love life. I adore it, but only because I keep myself well on the edge. I wouldn't commit myself to anything. I can always get out if I want to. I think this is a terribly cowardly attitude to life. I'm very ashamed of it, but there it is, dear. I love death, I think it's the most exciting thing . . . What pulls one up from these terrible depressions-it's the thought that it's in your own hands, that you can if you want to, make an end of it . . . because being alive is like being in enemy territory. " But, then what does it mean when "we" say "if we only knew that we should not do wrong"? What does the "wrong" refer to? Has it something to do with Mr. Over "died fighting"? And that brings another question: Who is Mr. Over fighting against? Is it life or death? And if it is life, so is he willing to die then? Vice versa. And since Stevie Smith had a such a view towards death- that it is a kind of "solution" to life, it makes me wonder if the line "follow where he has led" means follow death as it is a solution to all troubles in life. But then, why is the devil saying "happy happy the dead"? Is he mocking the persona or is he mocking the dead?

[keep smiling]

The word "Over" is interesting in the sense that it refers to the end, perhaps the end of life- that is death, and it can mean covering or being on top of something. In the line "over to You", other then the meaning of the end to Mr.Over, and that Mr. Over is gone over to "You". Could it be interpreted as the "they" being "on top" of Mr.Over, that is "they" somehow being superior to Mr. Over? The identity of "they" is very much unknown, as well as their relationship with Mr. Over. And when it is said "when the voices spake", does the voices refer to the voices of "they", that is the afterwards "we" then?