Poetry and Poetics–Lit 204

I really enjoyed reading Anne Sexton’s poem “And One for My Dame.” I thought that it sent a sad, but beautiful message in a satisfying way. Her father seemed to be a great business man and he had a lot of passion for it. But as readers know, his job was consuming and that took his presence away from Sexton’s life and quality time spent with her. While reading the poem, I couldn’t help but wonder if her father was a selfish man who was driven by his ambitions caring more for his work than for his own daughter. Or, through his perspective, was he blinded by his success from Sexton’s true feelings. As Sexton wrote in line 11, her father was “the man who filled [her] plate” and I wondered if his mindset was that as long as he was successful, making money, and providing for his family, everyone would be happy as he was supposed to do all those things as the father of the household, when really everyone was not happy. His lack of attention, love, and presence in Sexton’s life is really evident in line 15 as she doesn’t even describe him as a father. She says he is  “a peddler, a hawker, a merchant and an Indian chief;” everything but a father. Also, readers can notice that all these descriptions she uses are work related which just shows how he was so caught up in his business that that is what defined him in her eyes. I think Sexton really brings attention to the idea that money is not everything and cannot buy your happiness as she talks about her relationship with her father and his relationship with his work.

The transition as she starts to speak about her husband was very smooth and satisfying as I read it. By understanding how she felt lonely and upset by the lack of her father’s presence and by his drunken behavior as we are taken through her childhood with him, we can empathize with her. Fathers are very important figures in one’s life. They are supposed to proved unconditional love and there is a special bond between a father and daughter.  Sexton has missed out on this type of love and attention from her father but now that she is married, she has the chance to create a special bond again with another important male figure in her life. Readers can now understand the panic and fear she feels as it is revealed that her husband is following in similar footsteps. She attempts to warn him saying, “[Y]our itinerary open, / its tolls ticking and greedy” (lines 46-47). Readers can also get a sense of the idea that becoming obsessed with working and money can lead to greed. She seems to be addressing her husband and we can understand this through the form of the poem. This poem is a confessional poem, so there is no separation between the speaker and the poet. Therefore, we know that when she says “my husband,” she is actually talking about her husband in real life rather than some arbitrary husband of some arbitrary speaker. 

I also found it interest that she refers to herself as a “dame” when referring to how the father and husband are providing for their “dame,” or doing what they do for their “dame.” This term usually refers to a woman who is of equal ranks of a knight, and in this time period, that woman would be considered highly ranked, especially as a female. However, when you look at where a knight stands in terms of nobility, they are usually at the bottom. I think this irony perfectly describes how she feels she is being treated by her father and husband versus how they feel they are treating her. In their eyes they are doing all this work for her so that they can provide and make her happy; she is “highly ranked” from their perspective and they feel they are doing everything and more for her. However, from her perspective, she is ranked at the bottom of their domain, just as knights are ranked at the bottom of nobility. She feels she is treated poorly as she lacks their attention and love. Their passion for their work is ranked above her so she feels she is less important to them in her eyes. 

The last thing I found interesting was how it is noted in the footnotes that this poem is supposed to be reference to “Baa Baa Black Sheep.” Sheep are typically white, so the idea of a sheep being black seems to represent some kind of bad omen. In this case, both the father and the husband sell wool. There seems to be a connection implying that their business and passion for selling wool has ruined her relationship with her father and has the potential to also ruin it with her husband so this could be the result of the bad omen. 

I really enjoyed reading “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost as it really resonated with me, especially as a college student.  Frost wrote about a trip where a road split forcing him to make a decision about which one to take. He decided to take the one that was “grassy and wanted wear” meaning it had not been traveled on by many others, or anyone at all (8). I thought this was a bold move, as if I were in his position, personally I would have been skeptical about why others had taken the other one over the one he chose. I would have been afraid that there might be something dangerous or wrong with that path which is good reason why others had not taken that path either. In trying to decide which path to choose, he looked down both of them as far as he could, but obviously he could not see the ends of the paths, therefore, making a blind guess. Yet, he was still encouraged to take “the one less traveled by, / [in which we see] has made all the difference” (19-20). 

In college, we are starting to make decisions for ourselves that ultimately determine what our future will look like. Whether it is deciding which courses to take, or what clubs to be a part of, we are making decisions that will either set us up for success or lead us into failure. This idea can seem scary and overwhelming which can hinder us from taking risks in fear of failure. Similarly to the way Frost could not see the end of each path, we cannot see the end of the path our decision lead us on, and in this way, we are also making “blind guesses.” Even with the mysteries that lie ahead, Frost sends an encouraging message to still take the risks and try the paths that no one has traveled on. There is no way to know for sure if something will end in failure or success, so the only way to know for sure is to try it. In the poem he says, “Though as for that the passing there / Had worn them really about the same” (9-10). I interpreted this line to mean that in the end regardless of which path he had chosen, he ended up where he was supposed to be and was lead back to a path that had been taken by others again. This adds to his message that regardless of the path you choose, whether it leads to failure or success, you will find your way through and end up where you are meant to be. I received this message with assurance that it is okay to take the riskier path, or one that no one has taken before, because it’ll all work out in the end. Even if your decision leads to failure, sometimes you must fail to learn and grow so that you can be successful. I think this poem also sends a great message to be a leader not a follower. Do what you want to do, not what you think you should do. 

“Ode on a Grecian Urn” by John Keats explores the mysteries, truths, and immortal stories that have lived on through the art on Grecian urns. The art on the urns tell a story about the person whose remains it holds, but interpretations of the story have changed with time. This is evident when Keats writes, “When old age shall this generation waste, / Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe” (46-47). He is saying as newer generations are born, the stories on the urns still remain the same. Those that knew of the person mourn in memory. Meanwhile, the newer generations that never knew the person, now only know what the art shows them. This is shown by the lines, “Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard / Are sweeter… / Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear’d” (11-13). The art in someway makes the memory of that person immortal because their story lives on past their death. While a person no longer lives to tell of truth which is represented by their “silent melodies” in the poem, they are now depicted on the urn for those who wish to look at them. “While silent be; and not a soul to tell / Why thou art desolate, can e’er return” (39-40). This line implies that the pictures can not actively tell a story, but they can present one to someone who looks at it. The art will remain on the urn for a while after the person’s death. 

On the contrary, the truths to those stories can become blurred as time moves on. The questions in the first stanza seem to imply that the urn is more full of questions and mysteries than of truths. While the art that represents a truth does not change and still represents the same truth, the interpretation of the art changes and thats what causes the mysteries to arise in the real truth of a story; certain things gain or lose meaning overtime. Additionally, sometimes things become indecipherable when art changes as well. The idea of mysteriousness and ambiguousness is also reflected by the rhyme scheme. The first seven lines of each stanza seems to follow an ababcde rhyme scheme but the last three lines vary by stanza. They each have different patterns of dce, ced, or cde. Each stanza can take on different rhyme schemes just like each interpretation can have a different truth. The main focus of this poem however is that art does hold some kind of truth that allows a story to become “immortal.” Lines 49-50 say, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty,–that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”

George Herbert wrote 160 poems to emphasize many notions of the Christian Church, “Easter Wings” being on of them, which specifically expresses the idea that after suffering in sin, we can ascend into Heaven. The title alludes to the Christian holiday of Easter which is a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus and the hope of salvation. The structure of Herbert’s poem also alludes to Easter as it was designed intelligently to represent birds with wings that symbolize people will also resurrect like Jesus. While reading, I also thought the stanzas looked like a funnel and an inverted funnel merged together. In both stanza’s, the top funnels each had a negative tone created by Herbert’s choice in diction. He talks about the fall of man which has led humans to sin using words like “foolishly,” “decaying,” and “poor” (lines1-5). In the second stanza, we see words like “sickness,” “shame,” “punish,” and “thin” (lines 11-15). This negative tone matches the structure because as the lines get smaller and smaller, it gives the effect of feeling small and hopeless. If the funnel were to continue, readers can assume it would eventually lead into a nonexistent line with no more words—a depressing ending. As humans suffer the consequences of sin, there is a hopeless feeling that nothing will get better and the human condition will continue to weaken becoming frail and sick. The tone of the poem changes when you hit the inverted funnel of each stanza in lines 6-10 and lines 16-20. Herbert uses these lines to focus on the ascension to Heaven and salvation. He uses words like “harmoniously,” “victories,” and “advance” which all create a positive tone. This also matches the structure of the poem as the funnel shape opens back up and the lines become bigger again, giving a new sense of hope as if there is something bigger to look forward to. The complete funnel structure shows that death is not the end. He refers to the ascension as a victory. The last line of each stanza is repetitive to emphasize that suffering is necessary to get to Heaven. In other words, you cannot ascend without it paying the consequences of sin first.