酷我-北美枫

[christine]

Poem Text of Her Kind by Anne Sexton


I have gone out, a possessed witch,
haunting the black air, braver at night;
dreaming evil, I have done my hitch
over the plain houses, light by light:
lonely thing, twelve-fingered, out of mind.
A woman like that is not a woman, quite.
I have been her kind.

I have found the warm caves in the woods,
filled them with skillets, carvings, shelves,
closets, silks, innumerable goods;
fixed the suppers for the worms and the elves:
whining, rearranging the disaligned.
A woman like that is misunderstood.
I have been her kind.

I have ridden in your cart, driver,
waved my nude arms at villages going by,
learning the last bright routes, survivor
where your flames still bite my thigh
and my ribs crack where your wheels wind.
A woman like that is not ashamed to die.
I have been her kind.


Review:

Anne Sexton’s confessional poem Her Kind presents contrasting images between the roles of women prescribed by patriarchal society and those of the speaker in the poem. Her strong control over line and stanza arrangement and rhyme scheme provides the pattern of structure and logic for the poem. The perspective expressed in the first five lines of each stanza is an individualized I; In the sixth line of each stanza, the speaker changes to the third person, a woman, and distances herself from the I in the previous lines; the last line is the refrain, “I have been her kind,” threading all three stanzas together and giving the unconventional roles of women increased emphasis.

Anne Sexton creates a different world for women to inhabit through her vivid imagery. The first image presented in the first stanza is a devilish image, an image of a witch. She is “possessed,” “haunting,” “dreaming evil,” and “twelve-fingered.” She possesses the power to fly and to dream, but this empowerment makes her “not a woman” and alienated from the rest of the society and thus ‘lonely thing.” The second image is centered on a seemingly feminine image, an image of a homemaker who is highly capable in a domestic setting. Yet, the sixth line warns the reader of this misunderstood image of a traditional housewife. The third image focuses on a morally corruptive image, an image of a sexually promiscuous woman. The speaker sees herself from the viewpoint of mainstream society and defies its view by audaciously claiming that she “is not ashamed to die.” All of these images transgress the ideals of what a woman should be. The refrain -- ““I have been her kind” – gives a helping hand to all women who dare to transgress the roles of women by the society in which they live.


Note:

The poem text is from The Complete Poems by Anne Sexton. My piece is the reflection on my reading of Miriam Duffer’s work.

[[christine]]

Poem Text of Her Kind by Anne Sexton


I have gone out, a possessed witch,
haunting the black air, braver at night;
dreaming evil, I have done my hitch
over the plain houses, light by light:
lonely thing, twelve-fingered, out of mind.
A woman like that is not a woman, quite.
I have been her kind.

I have found the warm caves in the woods,
filled them with skillets, carvings, shelves,
closets, silks, innumerable goods;
fixed the suppers for the worms and the elves:
whining, rearranging the disaligned.
A woman like that is misunderstood.
I have been her kind.

I have ridden in your cart, driver,
waved my nude arms at villages going by,
learning the last bright routes, survivor
where your flames still bite my thigh
and my ribs crack where your wheels wind.
A woman like that is not ashamed to die.
I have been her kind.


Review:

Anne Sexton’s confessional poem Her Kind presents contrasting images between the roles of women prescribed by patriarchal society and those of the speaker in the poem. Her strong control over line and stanza arrangement and rhyme scheme provides the pattern of structure and logic for the poem. The perspective expressed in the first five lines of each stanza is an individualized I; In the sixth line of each stanza, the speaker changes to the third person, a woman, and distances herself from the I in the previous lines; the last line is the refrain, “I have been her kind,” threading all three stanzas together and giving the unconventional roles of women increased emphasis.

Anne Sexton creates a different world for women to inhabit through her vivid imagery. The first image presented in the first stanza is a devilish image, an image of a witch. She is “possessed,” “haunting,” “dreaming evil,” and “twelve-fingered.” She possesses the power to fly and to dream, but this empowerment makes her “not a woman” and alienated from the rest of the society and thus ‘lonely thing.” The second image is centered on a seemingly feminine image, an image of a homemaker who is highly capable in a domestic setting. Yet, the sixth line warns the reader of this misunderstood image of a traditional housewife. The third image focuses on a morally corruptive image, an image of a sexually promiscuous woman. The speaker sees herself from the viewpoint of mainstream society and defies its view by audaciously claiming that she “is not ashamed to die.” All of these images transgress the ideals of what a woman should be. The refrain -- ““I have been her kind” – gives a helping hand to all women who dare to transgress the roles of women by the society in which they live.


Note:

The poem text is from The Complete Poems by Anne Sexton. My piece is the reflection on my reading of Miriam Duffer’s work.

[anna]

Thanks for sharing.

I like her voice, soft and calmful.

Anna
_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com

[[星子安娜]]

Thanks for sharing.

I like her voice, soft and calmful.

Anna
_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com

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