酷我-北美枫

[ericcoliu]

Poem of the Week

Poem Lyrics of The Taming by Dorothy Livesay


Be woman. You did say me, be
woman. I did not know
the measure of the words

until a black man
as I prepared him chicken
made me listen:
-- No, dammit.
Not so much salt.
Do what I say, woman:
Just that
And nothing more.

Be woman. I did not know
the measure of the words
until that night
when you denied me darkness,
even the right
To turn in my own light.

Do as I say, I heard you faintly
over me fainting:
be woman.


Thematic Review

Almost a decade before the second wave of feminism in Europe and the United States had made its claim – the personal is political – loud and clear, Dorothy Livesay was a poet who constantly integrated grand political statements into her poems that teemed with minute details of womanhood, marriage, love and sexuality. Written in the context of her three-year African experience 1, The Taming is a love poem 2, portraying a white woman passionately in love with a black man who wants her to “be woman.” Through the poem, Livesay tries to explore the conflict between being an independent woman, sexually and politically, and yet at the same time being bound by her sexual desire and patriarchal values imposed on women.

A persistent demand runs through the poem, aone which comes not only from the narrator's sense of individuality but also from her masculine lover. “Be woman”, the opening and closing lines of the poem pronounced and defined by the man the narrator loves, means playing a subservient role in the domestic sphere ("until a black man / as I prepared him chicken / made me listen: / … / Do what I say, woman: / Just that / And nothing more"); it also means being submissive in sexual union ("Do as I say, I heard you faintly / over me"). Livesay clearly establishes the link between domestic chores and sexual servitude, both of which demand a woman's silence and submission. Nevertheless, paradoxically that basic femininity has its own strength which will take away some of the mastery of the male ("Do as I say, I heard you faintly / over me fainting"). In a way, the sexual experience makes her confront her essential self, her womanhood with both its submissive qualities and its strengths.

The phrase "Be woman" is repeated four times, each time reminding us that gender is defined by biology and is a requirement for socially sanctioned interactions. From a patriarchal point of view, being a woman means becoming a woman by domestication and submission. It also means becoming "womanly:" cooking ("I prepared him chicken"), obeying orders ("Do what I say, woman"), and making love ("Do as I say, I heard you faintly / over me fainting"). However, in the course of the poem, the narrator constantly resists this patriarchal framework and questions the phrase "be woman" defined by her man, voicing out "I did not know / the measure of the word" twice.

Notably, The Taming suggests a racialised sexual relationship, and Livesay uses the “light and dark” imagery to imply racial difference between the Canadian, or white, and the Zambian, or black. In the third stanza, she writes: "you denied me darkness, / even the right / to turn in my own light." These lines suggest that the narrator, a white woman signified by “light”, is denied the right to relinquish, or “turn in” that light, and that the “darkness”, the assertiveness of her lover, a black man, denies her full participation in his life and world. The Taming is an example of a poem where a gender binary seems to be reinforced by a racial binary.

Notes:

1 In the 1930s, spurred on by the Great Depression in Canada and threats of fascism in Europe, Livesay began what would become a lifelong involvement in social work and women's rights, eventually leading to her position with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as an English teacher in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) from 1960 to 1963.

2 The Taming is a love poem from Dorothy Livesay's 1967 poetic work entitled The Unquiet Bed. The love poems in The Unquiet Bed are preceded by a section of personal poems in which Dorothy Livesay concentrates on various aspects of herself as a woman. They show a greater interest in woman's individuality, her need for freedom, and her right to exist in her own way.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[[ericcoliu]]

Poem of the Week

Poem Lyrics of The Taming by Dorothy Livesay


Be woman. You did say me, be
woman. I did not know
the measure of the words

until a black man
as I prepared him chicken
made me listen:
-- No, dammit.
Not so much salt.
Do what I say, woman:
Just that
And nothing more.

Be woman. I did not know
the measure of the words
until that night
when you denied me darkness,
even the right
To turn in my own light.

Do as I say, I heard you faintly
over me fainting:
be woman.


Thematic Review

Almost a decade before the second wave of feminism in Europe and the United States had made its claim – the personal is political – loud and clear, Dorothy Livesay was a poet who constantly integrated grand political statements into her poems that teemed with minute details of womanhood, marriage, love and sexuality. Written in the context of her three-year African experience 1, The Taming is a love poem 2, portraying a white woman passionately in love with a black man who wants her to “be woman.” Through the poem, Livesay tries to explore the conflict between being an independent woman, sexually and politically, and yet at the same time being bound by her sexual desire and patriarchal values imposed on women.

A persistent demand runs through the poem, aone which comes not only from the narrator's sense of individuality but also from her masculine lover. “Be woman”, the opening and closing lines of the poem pronounced and defined by the man the narrator loves, means playing a subservient role in the domestic sphere ("until a black man / as I prepared him chicken / made me listen: / … / Do what I say, woman: / Just that / And nothing more"); it also means being submissive in sexual union ("Do as I say, I heard you faintly / over me"). Livesay clearly establishes the link between domestic chores and sexual servitude, both of which demand a woman's silence and submission. Nevertheless, paradoxically that basic femininity has its own strength which will take away some of the mastery of the male ("Do as I say, I heard you faintly / over me fainting"). In a way, the sexual experience makes her confront her essential self, her womanhood with both its submissive qualities and its strengths.

The phrase "Be woman" is repeated four times, each time reminding us that gender is defined by biology and is a requirement for socially sanctioned interactions. From a patriarchal point of view, being a woman means becoming a woman by domestication and submission. It also means becoming "womanly:" cooking ("I prepared him chicken"), obeying orders ("Do what I say, woman"), and making love ("Do as I say, I heard you faintly / over me fainting"). However, in the course of the poem, the narrator constantly resists this patriarchal framework and questions the phrase "be woman" defined by her man, voicing out "I did not know / the measure of the word" twice.

Notably, The Taming suggests a racialised sexual relationship, and Livesay uses the “light and dark” imagery to imply racial difference between the Canadian, or white, and the Zambian, or black. In the third stanza, she writes: "you denied me darkness, / even the right / to turn in my own light." These lines suggest that the narrator, a white woman signified by “light”, is denied the right to relinquish, or “turn in” that light, and that the “darkness”, the assertiveness of her lover, a black man, denies her full participation in his life and world. The Taming is an example of a poem where a gender binary seems to be reinforced by a racial binary.

Notes:

1 In the 1930s, spurred on by the Great Depression in Canada and threats of fascism in Europe, Livesay began what would become a lifelong involvement in social work and women's rights, eventually leading to her position with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as an English teacher in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) from 1960 to 1963.

2 The Taming is a love poem from Dorothy Livesay's 1967 poetic work entitled The Unquiet Bed. The love poems in The Unquiet Bed are preceded by a section of personal poems in which Dorothy Livesay concentrates on various aspects of herself as a woman. They show a greater interest in woman's individuality, her need for freedom, and her right to exist in her own way.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[ericcoliu]

In his introductory article entitled Dorothy Livesay, Phillip Hewett writes,

"Her writing now began to emphasize the experience of being a woman, especially the 1967 collection, The Unquiet Bed. She listed as the concerns to which she had dedicated her life and work "the destruction of the environment, the danger of nuclear war, the plight of women politically and socially, the mistreatment of children, and also the need for improved health and dietary standards."
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[[ericcoliu]]

In his introductory article entitled Dorothy Livesay, Phillip Hewett writes,

"Her writing now began to emphasize the experience of being a woman, especially the 1967 collection, The Unquiet Bed. She listed as the concerns to which she had dedicated her life and work "the destruction of the environment, the danger of nuclear war, the plight of women politically and socially, the mistreatment of children, and also the need for improved health and dietary standards."
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[星子]

This is very good. Short and profound.

Both poem and review are worthy reading many times.

This makes me wonder why women are more taming.

In my precious post about Ha Jin's interview, when asked what did he expect the common interest between Easterians and Westerians.
He mentioned: love and to be loved.

Women, in this aspect, are more longing for love and to be loved.

In the poem here, she tells her inner self be woman, means to be loved . . .

Here we can feel the man domestic world cold, even in sexual life.
_________________

[[ANNA]]

This is very good. Short and profound.

Both poem and review are worthy reading many times.

This makes me wonder why women are more taming.

In my precious post about Ha Jin's interview, when asked what did he expect the common interest between Easterians and Westerians.
He mentioned: love and to be loved.

Women, in this aspect, are more longing for love and to be loved.

In the poem here, she tells her inner self be woman, means to be loved . . .

Here we can feel the man domestic world cold, even in sexual life.
_________________

[Champagne]

[[Champagne]]

[ericcoliu]

[[ericcoliu]]

[ericcoliu]

[[ericcoliu]]

[fanfan]

[[FAFAFA]]

[fanfan]

Unbelievable! The S word can not be shown here.
_________________
Don't imitate me;
it's as boring
as the two halves of a melon.

[[FFFFFF]]

Unbelievable! The S word can not be shown here.
_________________
Don't imitate me;
it's as boring
as the two halves of a melon.

[fanfan]

I did not know
the measure of the words

until THE BIG BROTHER
as I typed in the S WORD
made me realize:
-- No, dammit.
NO such word.
_________________
Don't imitate me;
it's as boring
as the two halves of a melon.

[[FAFAFA]]

I did not know
the measure of the words

until THE BIG BROTHER
as I typed in the S WORD
made me realize:
-- No, dammit.
NO such word.
_________________
Don't imitate me;
it's as boring
as the two halves of a melon.

[fanfan]

The title of Simone de Beauvoir’s epoch-making book has been violently tamed to The Second . and thus dammed and damned by THE BIG BROTHER.
_________________
Don't imitate me;
it's as boring
as the two halves of a melon.

[[FFFFFF]]

The title of Simone de Beauvoir’s epoch-making book has been violently tamed to The Second . and thus dammed and damned by THE BIG BROTHER.
_________________
Don't imitate me;
it's as boring
as the two halves of a melon.