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`` She Had Some Horses ``

Good Essays

Most Native Americans believe that there are magical spaces where the concept of understanding is brilliant. For instance, to others the atmosphere around the Black Hills or the rock of Bear Lodge is presumed to be sacred. Such places are believed to offer better platforms for easier means of communication with the spirits and ancestors. Similarly, in her poem, “She had some horses”, the poet does not detain herself to the physical dimensions of her spaces. Harjo manages to use her sensitivity and elements beyond imagination to describe what transcends in her special spaces. Harjo also metaphorically uses the horse to represent the struggles of the female speaker in her poem and the contradicting thoughts she attempts to reconcile. Through the repetition of the words “she had some horses” in every stanza, she manages to unify the poem, as well as add emotional impact to its theme. Using her style of writing, readers understand that the paradoxical images and events taking place in the speaker’s life offer a sharp definition of the writer’s psychological, cultural, and spiritual conflicts. Towards the close of the sonnet, the writer gains psychological contentment and gains the ability to comprehend her purpose in life. Evidently, people’s ability to understand their surrounding helps in the achievement of their self- discovery and understanding of individual purpose in life.

Stanza by stanza analysis
In the first stanza, Harjo describes the horses by comparing them with

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