Chapter 86: “Departure” — Summary, Themes, and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

“Departure” is a very short poem—only a few lines—that captures a single moment of uncertainty. The speaker addresses someone who has just left a room, asking whether the page of a book or score was turned by newly played piano music or by a breeze coming through a door that had been left open. The poem presents these two possible causes side by side, but it never resolves which one actually happened. The departure itself is not described; the speaker only wonders about this small, ambiguous detail that occurred just before the person left. The poem ends with the question still hanging in the air, leaving the event suspended between sound and air, between intention and chance.

The poem’s brevity is essential to its effect. It does not explain why the speaker is asking, nor does it offer any context about the relationship between the speaker and the departing person. Instead, it isolates a tiny, ordinary occurrence and turns it into a meditation on how we perceive cause and effect. The page turning could be a result of the music—perhaps the vibration of the piano, or the motion of the player’s hands—or it could be a purely physical effect of a draft. The speaker’s “I wonder” signals a genuine curiosity, not a rhetorical question. The poem leaves the reader with the same uncertainty, inviting us to consider how often we cannot know the true cause of the things we observe.

Key Events

The poem contains no traditional plot events. Its sequence is as follows:

• The speaker poses a question to someone who has just left.
• The speaker offers the first possibility: the page was turned by newly played piano music.
• The speaker offers the second possibility: the page was turned by a breeze from a door left open.
• The poem ends without choosing between these options, leaving the question unanswered.

Because the poem is so compressed, the “events” are really mental acts—wondering, hypothesizing, and leaving the matter unresolved. The only physical actions mentioned are playing the piano, leaving a door open, and a page turning, but none of these are described as having definitively occurred. The departure is implied by the phrase “just before you left,” but it is not narrated.

Character Development

There are no named characters in “Departure.” The only presence is the speaker, who addresses an unnamed “you” who has left. The speaker’s voice is reflective and observant, noticing a detail that most people would overlook. The poem reveals a mind that is attuned to ambiguity and to the small, unexplained moments that make up daily life. The speaker does not demand an answer; the question is posed softly, with “I wonder,” suggesting a gentle curiosity rather than anxiety or accusation.

The “you” is entirely absent from the scene, yet the poem is built around that absence. The speaker’s attention is focused on an object—the page—that was affected by something the “you” may have done (playing music) or may have inadvertently caused (leaving the door open). This indirect connection makes the absent person the center of the poem, even though they are not described. The speaker’s relationship to this person is left undefined, which allows the poem to resonate with any situation of parting.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Departure and Absence – The poem’s title and the opening line establish departure as the central theme. The act of leaving is not shown; instead, we see its aftermath—a room with an open door and a turned page. The absence of the person is felt through the speaker’s wondering. The poem suggests that departure leaves behind small traces that invite interpretation.

Ambiguity of Cause – The poem’s central question is about causation. Was the page turned by music (a human action, intentional or at least connected to the person) or by a breeze (an impersonal natural force)? The poem refuses to resolve this, emphasizing that we often cannot know why things happen. This ambiguity extends beyond the literal page to the larger question of what we can know about another person’s actions or intentions.

Music and Air – The two possible causes are both invisible and ephemeral. Music is sound, and a breeze is moving air. Neither leaves a permanent mark, yet both can move a page. The poem sets up a contrast between human-made sound and natural wind, but it does not privilege one over the other. Both are plausible, and both are linked to the idea of something passing through a space.

The Turning Page – The page is a symbol of transition and change. A page turning can signify the end of one section and the beginning of another, much like a departure marks a transition in a relationship or a moment in time. The page is also a physical object that responds to unseen forces, mirroring how we are often moved by forces we cannot see or control.

The Open Door – The open door is a classic symbol of threshold and possibility. It suggests an exit, but also an invitation for something to enter—in this case, a breeze. The door left open is a detail that implies haste or carelessness, but it also creates the condition for the page to turn. The poem leaves open whether the door was left open intentionally or by accident, adding another layer of ambiguity.

Unanswered Questions – The poem’s structure is a question that is never answered. This motif is central to Collins’s work, which often finds meaning in uncertainty. The unanswered question is not frustrating; rather, it becomes a way of holding a moment in time, preserving it from the finality of an explanation.

Why This Chapter Matters

“Departure” exemplifies Billy Collins’s ability to turn a trivial, everyday occurrence into a meditation on perception and memory. The poem is only a few lines long, yet it opens up a world of possibility. It matters within Musical Tables because it demonstrates the collection’s central concern with the ordinary and the overlooked. Collins often writes about domestic scenes, small objects, and fleeting moments, and this poem is a concentrated example of that approach.

The poem also matters because it challenges the reader to sit with uncertainty. In a culture that often demands clear answers, “Departure” offers no resolution. Instead, it invites us to appreciate the mystery of a simple event. The page turning could be caused by music or by a breeze, and the poem suggests that both explanations are equally valid—or that the truth may be unknowable. This openness is a hallmark of Collins’s style, and it gives the poem a quiet power.

Furthermore, the poem’s brevity is a statement in itself. By using so few words, Collins shows that a profound idea does not require elaborate language. The poem’s spareness mirrors the emptiness left by the departing person, and the unanswered question becomes a way of keeping that person present in the speaker’s mind. The chapter thus contributes to the book’s larger meditation on time, absence, and the small details that connect us to others.

Study Questions and Answers

1. What two possible causes for the page turning does the speaker consider?

The speaker wonders whether the page was turned by newly played piano music or by a breeze coming through a door that had been left open. The poem presents both possibilities without choosing between them, leaving the cause ambiguous.

2. How does the poem’s structure reinforce its theme of ambiguity?

The poem is structured as a single unanswered question. It offers two alternatives in parallel, but it never resolves them. The lack of a conclusion mirrors the uncertainty of the event itself, and the poem ends with the question still open, inviting the reader to consider both possibilities indefinitely.

3. What role does the absent “you” play in the poem?

The “you” is the person who has left, and their absence is the reason for the speaker’s wondering. Although the “you” is not described, the poem is entirely focused on an action they may have performed (playing music) or an oversight they may have committed (leaving the door open). The absent person thus becomes the center of the poem, and the speaker’s question is a way of holding onto a connection after the departure.

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