What does Sean O'Brien means in the poem "Leavetaking," especially about the patronne, things happening around him, and the end of the poem? This is...

O'Brien is
eulogizing Peter Porter who has passed (see the title, "Leavetaking"), but writing as
if Porter were still with him. O'Brien notes the setting: a place where O'Brien have both
visited on separate occasions (Chateau Ventenac). "Une pression" is beer (in French).
He recalls Porter would have preferred a Minervois (red) wine. O'Brien uses the
phrase,

Bad news prefers its poison cold and
long...

saying that good wine should not be wasted over
bad news (death), but saved until a more appropriate time, after an "acceptable"
interval (space of time) of mourning has passed. O'Brien writes that the wine
might be enjoyed at midnightwhen everyone sleepsin a spot where a Nazi
colonel once sat, waiting...a tidbit of information that Porter would have tucked away to think
on later; but gone, "there is no later..."

The author notes that
everyone must die, including flute-playing psychopaths. (This may refer to the Hitler Youth, who
were heavily involved in music.) But O'Brien refuses to...