First Stanza:
"The sleep of this night deepens
because I have walked coatless from the house
carrying a white envelope.
All night it will say one name
in its little tin house by the roadside."
In this first stanza we see that its night out. The narrator is out "coatless" carrying a "white envelope" off to a mailbox. It seems to be a letter to a loved one, because she seems to be going a great distance to send this letter. We can assume she left the house without a coat on because it was earlier in the day and possibly warmer, but as the journey grew longer so did the day with the weather turning. The night and cold seem to be taking a toll on her. We can assume this from the line "The sleep of this night deepens because I have walked coatless from the house..." By this she seems to be getting tired and drawn out.
Second Stanza:
"I have raised the metal flag
so its shadow under the roadlamp
leaves an imprint on the rain-heavy bushes.
Now I will walk back
thinking of the few lights still on
in the town a mile away."
We see she has reached her destination and her task is complete. We see from the line "rain-heavy bushes" that it had rained earlier, possibly while she was walking to the tin mailbox. In this stanza we also learn that the town is a mile away, and we can assume she lives in town. So the letter must have been very important for her to walk that far to a mailbox.
Third Stanza:
"In the yellowed light of a kitchen
the millworker has finished his coffee,
his wife has laid out the white slices of bread
on the counter. Now while the bed they have left is still warm, I will think of you, you who are so far away
you have caused me to look up at the stars."
From this we can assume she is looking in through the windows as she passes by on her way home. She's also thinking of someone, we can guess its a significant other, maybe her husband. When she says "you who are so far away you have caused me to look up at the stars", it makes me think that possible the person she is thinking of could have passed away, but that wouldn't make sense if she's sending them letters. Perhaps she's looking up because she knows it's the same view as her loved one, maybe they are looking up at the sky at that moment too.
Fourth Stanza:
"Tonight they have not moved
from childhood, those games played after dark.
Again I walk into the wet grass
toward the starry voices. Again, I
am the found one, intimate, returned
by all I touch on the way."
Out of the whole poem this is the part that I was most confused about. I don't feel like it connects like the other three do. It doesn't seem to me at least to fit in with the rest of the poem. I'm not sure what Gallagher is trying to portray or get across. That first sentence seems to maybe mean that whoever she's talking about their in a state of bliss, happiness, they're like children, no worries or stress. Just carefree and happy.
In a way, this is taking the poem literally--really too literally, in the sense of "adding in" a lot of narrative not provided by the poem itself. Work with the givens of the poem--it is actually a much simpler, and and the same time, more ambiguous narrative--literally speaking, the speaker has simply walked to her mailbox, across the lawn or down the drive, to put in a letter and raise the flag so that the postperson will pick it up in the morning. Note that as you note, she walks "coatless" from the house, so that you'll know that the physical journey is actually short, though the emotional/imaginative journey is long:this is where things start to get more comlpicated, and the --physical--time becomes confused---the third stanza could suggest a time very early in the morning,before light (so still dark), then the next stanza distorts time, place, and motion to take us into a reimagination of the past.... follow the image patterns in the poem--white slices, white envelope--etc, which carry the imaginative/emotional weigt of the poem
ReplyDeleteI agree this is a bit too literal but still the narrative detail brings light to thoughts i have not process yet. Since she did not come outside with a coat the distance is really imagine mentally. Similar to Amanda, when she says "you who are so far away you have caused me to look up at the stars", it makes me think that possible the person she is thinking of could have passed away, but that wouldn't make sense if she's sending them letters. This part has me thinking who this letter is to and who is she looking up to? I am thinking love ones but I may be wrong. Towards the ending I am still unsure but there must be some underlying meaning possible.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the previous two comments about the poem being literal. I see why you wouldn't get the part about the white envelope in this interpretation. It directly contradicts the line about all night it will say one name and you who have caused me to look up at the stars if you assume the lover is dead. This is why I took these to mean that he has instilled passion in her and she has been having an affair. From this more metaphoric perspective the rest of the poem fell into place with the last paragraph that you found convoluted symbolizing her passion moving towards an outward playfulness and connection with the world.
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