One of the main things that struck me about Sexton's poem
was the use of natural imagery throughout the stanzas. In contrast
to the traditional association of these images with cleansing and life, here
they are used to show the indifference of nature to the actions, emotions, and
preferences of humans.
After walking from the memorial service
and admission of her emotional fatigue ("I am tired of being
brave."), the narrator turns to nature for solace. The caesura at the beginning of
the second stanza "I cultivate/ myself..." draws attention to the
word "cultivate" which is defined as "to prepare and use for
growing crops." This specific word choice reflects the narrators desire
for change, growth, and even healing via her surroundings. Directly following this confession the
narrator is confronted with the harsh reality that is her environment. The
"sun gutters from the sky" and the
"sea swings in like an iron gate," both of which are harsh, metallic
images. Upon realizing the cruelty of these elements she rationalizes to
herself that "In another country people die." Not only in death a
universal reality, but so is mourning and sorrow of the living, and further,
the indifference of the natural environment.
Again in the third stanza
"the wind falls in like stones" yet another violent image. Finally,
in the last stanza, the dead have now become part of this indifferent natural
environment via comparison to stone by the narrator. Not only are they compared
to stone, they "refuse to be blessed." No longer are they part
of the human world of action and emotions but have become part of the harshness
and indifference of nature through their refusal of something good.
I love this post. Something struck me about the coldness of the natural images in the poem, and you assessed their effects very well. To me, "In another country people die" (10) emphasized the distance between the narrator and the funeral; it's as if the death of those (presumably) closest to her—her parents—has taken place far away from the "country" she now inhabits emotionally.
ReplyDeleteIs the line break between "cultivate" and "myself" a caesura, or is it an example of enjambment?
The cesura occurs after the word Cape (with the mid-line interruption of a full stop) but line 5 is enjambed: it lacks an endstop and thus the the thought carries over into line 6.
ReplyDeleteIs it to bold to say that Sexton is trying to cultivate the essence of humanity and plant it in nature, but realizes that nature experiences nature the way she is experiencing as a human making death nature that is indifferent to itself because it is no longer human (meaning thing that creates conflict)?
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that you say "the sun gutters from the sky" is a harsh, metallic image--particularly "metallic." I actually had trouble understanding what "gutters" meant--could you clarify how you read it?
ReplyDeleteSure thing, I was actually fairly confused by the use of "gutters" too. I just went to OED and the definition is "To make gutters in; to furnish with gutters; to channel or furrow with streams, tears, or the like." Whether accurate or not, I pictured literal gutters which are traditionally made of a metal. Normally I would have passed over this analysis but the image of an iron gate in the following line made me think that it was intentional. My use of the term metallic was to express the similar physical nature of both gutters and an iron gate as they are both made of metal.
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