`` Otherwise `` By Jane Kenyon Essay

Jane Kenyon, the author of “Otherwise”, once said, “The poet's job is to put into words those feelings we all have that are so deep, so important, and yet so difficult to name, to tell the truth in such a beautiful way, that people cannot live without it.” Jane died a few years later after writing this poem, and it was published after her death. “Otherwise” is a meaningful poem that describes the tender truth about death in a definite but beautiful way; it also emphasizes the pleasant normalcy in life, and how everything will change.

Our identity is inimitable, yet ironically it is affected by society and enigmatic forces that define our external relationships. This inextricable link between identity and social environment not only shape our identity, but gives us a sense of purpose, however when we fail to establish our sense of congruity with society through metaphysical acceptance, as a result of social isolation we can feel an abyss within our lives often forcing us to look into our inner self, as exemplified in Gwen Harwood’s poetry, especially her poems “At Mornington” and “Mother Who Gave Me Life”. These also reflect and force us to explore the impact time has on people and how this can inevitably lead to a reassessment of one’s life.

Poets, Judith Wright, Sylvia Plath and Emily Dickenson all express their views on life and death, however, do so in varying manners. Through imagery, Wright and Plath both consider life’s beginnings, however, Wright considers it to be a beautiful gift, whereas Plath views birth as an empty burden. Subsequently, through structure Dickenson and Wright each acknowledge life, expressing how in some cases it is difficult, yet in other circumstances it is celebrated. Finally, through tone, Dickenson and Plath convey their views on death, yet differ in that Plath believes it is purifying and holds a sick fascination with it, while Dickenson instead holds a unique curiosity about it. Therefore, whilst each poet recognises the journey of birth,

The poet uses many metaphors, repetition and morbid diction to illicit the response I had to this poem. Firstly, Butson compared the emotions and internal struggles of a

Psychoanalysis can be inscribed in many poems subliminally. Authors tend to use psychoanalysis to solve the concern of a psychological issue or dysfunction problem that they have encountered. It is the conscious awareness of not knowing what the problem is that gives it so much control of our destructive behavior. As human beings, we often repress our deepest fears, emotions and experiences that tend to unfurl in the future beyond our control. Until we can acknowledge and openly admit to ourselves the cause of this, we will continue to disguise the problems unconsciously. It benefits our mental state for a certain length of time, but we ultimately suffer from it in the end. In her poem, Surprise, Jane Kenyon utilizes fear of betrayal, the double and being forced into a regressive state that creates her fear to be intimate.

In the poem “XIV,” Derek Walcott utilizes the use of inhumane imagery that is being counterpointed with the use of happy imagery to show the view of an elderly woman with his experiences with her; the speaker recalls this information by describing his experiences with her with a sense of happiness, fear and appreciation.

Relationships can be like a pack of wolves. There is an alpha and an omega, always a type of power structure. Jane Kenyon explores about this in her poem with the different roles the male and female take within in their relationship. She reveals how a power shift come about and the way in which each person in the relationship acts to accommodate it. “Surprise” In her poem “Surprise”, Jane Kenyon uses yonic and phallic symbols, regression, and the double to reveal the power dynamics within the relationship.

Finding yourself and one’s individuality is apart of each person’s journey throughout life. In the poem “ Some People Like Poetry”, the narrator gives an obvious statement of being who you are. “[B]ut then, you can like chicken noodle soup, or compliments, or the color blue, your old scarf, your own way, petting the dog” (489). Despite the like and dislikes, sense of who you are is a large portion of every person’s life. Being smacked abruptly by reality is unfortunate, yet a very relatable experience taken on by all people. The narrator from “Ars Poetica!” shows the struggle with finding that the world is not exactly what was expected of it. “And yet the world is different from what it seems to be and we are other than how we see ourselves” (493). With overcoming and accepting disappointments in life, we as people develop into more rational beings. Author Szymborska, expresses the realization of human alikeness through her quote, “[M]ortal - a hundred out of a hundred. Thus far this figure still remains unchanged” (491). Much growth to better ourselves is allowed after having experiencing finding your individuality, and acceptance of others and the world. Though a positive outcome may come from dealing with these milestones, facing death has much more of a skeptical impact on a

Emily Dickinson is one of the most important American poets of the 1800s. Dickinson, who was known to be quite the recluse, lived and died in the town of Amherst, Massachusetts, spending the majority of her days alone in her room writing poetry. What few friends she did have would testify that Dickinson was a rather introverted and melancholy person, which shows in a number of her poems where regular themes include death and mortality. One such poem that exemplifies her “dark side” is, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”. In this piece, Dickinson tells the story of a soul’s transition into the afterlife showing that time and death have outright power over our lives and can make what was once significant become meaningless.

However, the poem has fluidity despite its apparent scarcity of rhyme. After examining the alteration of syllables in each line, a pattern is revealed in this poem concerning darkness. The first nine lines alternate between 8 and 6 syllables. These lines are concerned, as any narrative is, with exposition. These lines set up darkness as an internal conflict to come. The conflict intensifies in lines 10 and 11 as we are bombarded by an explosion of 8 syllables in each line. These lines present the conflict within one's own mind at its most desperate. After this climax, the syllables in the last nine lines resolve the conflict presented. In these lines, Dickinson presents us with an archetypal figure that is faced with a conflict: the “bravest” hero. These lines present the resolution in lines that alternate between 6 and 7 syllables. Just as the syllables decrease, the falling action presents us with a final insight. This insight discusses how darkness is an insurmountable entity that, like the hero, we must face to continue “straight” through “Life” (line 20).

Loss is one of the central ideas presented in Gwen Harwood’s reflective sonnet, “In the Park” and W. H Auden’s elegy, “Stop all the Clocks”. Harwood’s poem provides readers with a glimpse into the life of a struggling woman who has lost her identity to motherhood, and this grief contrasts Auden’s narrator who is anguished at the death of his lover.

Both the “Valediction Forbidding Mourning” by John Donne and “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson contain age-old themes. These themes focus on inevitable feelings and events of life; love and death. Although both “Valediction Forbidding Mourning” and “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” contain the two themes, they differ greatly in how they are presented and what they represent. In “Valediction Forbidding Mourning,” a husband traveling away from his wife is consoling her.

This poem is written in ballad form which is odd because one would think of a ballad and think a love story or an author gushing on about nature not an allegory about personified Death. Dickinson both unites and contrasts love/courtship with death, experimenting with both reader’s expectations and the poetic convention dictating specific poem form. This is why Dickinson is widely hailed because of her unconventional writing methods.

The poem that I have selected for this essay is “Talking to Grief” by Denise Levertov. I chose this poem because it talks about grief. It also talks about the place that grief should have in a person’s life. The poem describes grief, and compares it to a “homeless dog.” It also describes how a dog deserves its own place in the house, instead of living under a porch or being homeless. This poem talks about how a person can be aware that grief is present, but that it is not always acknowledged and accepted. We all experience grief in different ways, and for different reasons. Everyone deals with grief in their own personal way. This poem describes a point in a person’s life when they are ready to accept grief as a part of their life

Poetry has the ability to expand minds and put its reader in touch with the world around them. Emily Dickinson attempts to convey the power of poetry in her poem I Dwell in Possibility. She pours her passionate feelings about poetry into this poem and drives her point home with a comparison to prose. Using language, structure, and symbolism, Emily Dickinson’s I Dwell in Possibility effectively articulates how poetry can broaden horizons and provide an escape from the mundane.