Vincent Van Gogh 23 - Marcasse Mine Poem by Geeta Radhakrishna Menon

Two months passed by, after Vincent's arrival in Petit Wasmes.
Jacques felt that Vincent should know the miners even more closely.
So far, Vincent had seen miner's life above the ground- in 'Terril',
To know deeply he should descend down the mines, see for himself,
How they worked three in the morning until four in the afternoon.

Vincent, once again, accepted Henri Jacques's invitation,
But this time, it was to descend 'Marcasse' - the dreaded mine.
He got up at two thirty at dawn, ate a piece of dry bread,
And met Jacques at the door, as scheduled at quarter to three.
It had been snowing the whole night, hence bitterly cold!

Nothing deterred the miners. Many were already rushing towards
The Marcasse mine with lamps in their hands. They went down
The mine in a descending cage with six compartments,
One above the other. Jacques being the foreman was privileged
To get into the topmost compartment of the cage with Vincent.

The other miners got into crowded groups of four or five,
In the compartment, squatted low, their bodies crouched,
Toes jammed and heads pushed against the wire mesh on top.
As the cage shot downwards on its two steel tracks,
Jacques warned Vincent to keep his hands straight,
Or else he may lose them, if it touches the side wall.

For a moment Vincent was shaken up. He shuddered
As the cage moved down, into pitch darkness.
Vincent feared that if anything went wrong, or
An accident took place, he would be plunged to death.
It was horrible to descend down to abysmal dark pit,
Was he going down the dark hole of hell? Frightening thoughts!

Jacques sensing Vincent's tremors of discomfort,
Nodded and smiled sympathetically at Vincent.
Does every miner feel like him, asked Vincent or are they
Used to going down? 'No, never! ' Replied Jacques.
'An unconquerable feeling of horror and fear
For this cage stays with them until their dying day.'

A Biographical poem