This poem is my favorite out of all of his other ones because the subject matter is on deep sea diving which always catches my interests. Another thing about this poem is that its short stanza structure. I feel like it is easier to read and follow along with. Rich does a great job of adding very distinctive descriptions of what he wants the readers to feel and/or see. For example, “I have to learn alone to turn my body without force in the deep element,” in reference to that the movement in water is much different. He goes forward and describes the “wreck” as a drowned face. Along the lines of that he continues to give it more characterization, “Whose drowned face sleeps with open eyes whose breasts still bear the stress…” Rich, then changes the point of view to the wrecked object saying, “we are the half-destroyed instruments that once held to a course the water-eaten logs the fouled compass.” Given that image, the readers are given more of insight of what Rich is getting across. All and all the poem is straight-forward and is able to capture the reader’s attention because of how descriptive it is.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Adrienne Rich- Diving into a Wreck
This poem is my favorite out of all of his other ones because the subject matter is on deep sea diving which always catches my interests. Another thing about this poem is that its short stanza structure. I feel like it is easier to read and follow along with. Rich does a great job of adding very distinctive descriptions of what he wants the readers to feel and/or see. For example, “I have to learn alone to turn my body without force in the deep element,” in reference to that the movement in water is much different. He goes forward and describes the “wreck” as a drowned face. Along the lines of that he continues to give it more characterization, “Whose drowned face sleeps with open eyes whose breasts still bear the stress…” Rich, then changes the point of view to the wrecked object saying, “we are the half-destroyed instruments that once held to a course the water-eaten logs the fouled compass.” Given that image, the readers are given more of insight of what Rich is getting across. All and all the poem is straight-forward and is able to capture the reader’s attention because of how descriptive it is.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Isn't Adrienne Rich a woman?
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you on the stanza length. The length along with the breaks made this one of the easiest poems we've read all semester. I thought when she said “we are the half-destroyed instruments that once held to a course the water-eaten logs the fouled compass”, she was referring to herself and not the actual wreck. To me, that was a pivotal moment where readers realize that this poem's not just about deep sea diving. That perhaps this poem is a metaphor for something. Those are just my thoughts, take them with a grain of rice.
The poem by Adrienne Rich can be interpret in one two ways. One is explaining the exploration of a wreck. The wreck can be viewed as an event or a past relationship that author is revisiting via "words, words" in order to understand its (wreck) meaning. She is the only person going into the ocean suggesting that is in her being or a past event. In line 42 she "learn[ing]" along also suggesting the experience of delving into the ocean of memories is different than clear air of reality. The poem becomes more obscured with wreck of memories or is wreck merging into mythical world, "I am she: I am he" blurring the lines of recall. Maybe the memory is more permanent than words because it layered into conscience or myth, but the differences are difficult to separate. The reality of the wreck and why the wreck is there become blur with time or the more she delves into the ocean.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Abe when he says that the poem has two interpretations. Granted, different interpretations. . . I believe she is talking about the past of people, and the past of herself. The past of people by saying “we are, I am, you are by cowardice o courage the one who find our way back to this scene.” The poem is obviously talking about the scene of a wreck, but peoples’ problems are wrecks too. It is more personal, and about herself when she says that she dives into the ocean (my understanding the past) all alone. By herself. She explores the wreck (her past problem) not the “myth” of it (a narrow minded view of the past.)
ReplyDeleteThe poem can be very “deep” – ha.ha. But that is why I like this one best; everyone can relate.