In Rainy September
By Robert Bly
In rainy September, when leaves grow down to the dark,
I put my forehead down to the damp, seaweed-smelling sand.
What can we do but choose? The only way for human beings
is to choose. The fern has no choice but to live;
for this crime it receives earth, water, and night.
We close the door. “I have no claim on you.”
Dusk comes. “The love I have had with you is enough.”
We know we could live apart from one another.
The sheldrake floats apart from the flock.
The oaktree puts out leaves alone on the lonely hillside.
Men and women before us have accomplished this.
I would see you, and you me, once a year.
We would be two kernels and not be planted.
We stay in the room, door closed, lights out.
I weep with you without shame and without honor.
Notes:
1. Repetition of “down” in first two lines—with the use of the diction “rainy” and “dark,” this creates a sad, depressed mood.
2. Alliteration: “seaweed-smelling sand.”
3. First stanza sets up the difference between humans and nature. Human beings must choose, but nature has no choice “but to live.” Does this mean the speaker is considering suicide?
4. “The fern has no choice to live; for this crime it receives earth, water, and night.” Choosing to live = a crime.
5. Third stanza uses natural settings and elements to reinforce the sadness, loneliness of the second stanza. Diction: “apart,” “alone,” “lonely.”
6. In the fourth stanza: What is “this”? Divorce?
7. Again, the use of nature. Metaphor: “We would be two kernels and not be planted.” We = two kernels. “Not be planted”? Reference to them not having kids?
8. “I weep with you without shame and without honor.” Shame: a painful emotion caused by consciousness of guilt, shortcoming, or improper act or remark. Honor: a keen sense of ethical conduct.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Contemporary American Poetry (CAP) 1
Since I'm teaching 11th grade American Lit. this year, I've decided to start compiling poems from Contemporary American Poets. Although my posting to this blog has been anything but consistent, my goal is to post each poem with my notes I'll use in class. Today, I have two poems:
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