help for poetry?

Question

i have this poem i need to analyze and i'm having some trouble
could someone kind of help me
its by anne sexton
heres the link
http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/annesexton/588
thanks!

Answer 1

I found an article by Nancy Jo Hoffman called "Reading Women's Poetry: The Meaning and Our Lives" which directly addresses the poetry of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton - including the poem 'Live.'

Hoffman starts her address of this poem by saying, "Anne Sexton in 'Live,' the final poem of Live or Die, provides an insight into her own process of suffering changes. Suffering, even when the change is positive, means enduring pain. Sexton moves away from the torment of her madness..." (52). Hoffman goes on to explain that there is a disconnect in the speaking voice of the poet - that the first person voice is passive: descriptive rather than acting. Comparing Plath and Sexton, Hoffman notes, "Each woman sees herself as theatrical, dressed up, a player in life's drama, dissociated from an authentic self" then "Both poems do move from living death to life" (53).

I think the main thing you need to get out of this part is that the poem is directly related to Anne Sexton herself. Look over her biography - when I read the poem, I immediately thought there seemed to be a connection between the imagery and feelings to her post-partum depression.

In addition to the feelings of 'theatrics,' Hoffman claims "But in Sexton's 'Live,' the lack of honing, the refusal to refin consciousness, affirms life through just this absence of order–the unschematic, non-cyclical change process out of fear and into the unknown. Sexton transforms herself from enemy, a killer Eichmann, to lover, mother, poet, an unexpected yet worthy-to-be-known woman" (54). A bit later she says "Sexton, on the other hand, presents a transformation from feeling herself to be a sawed-off, naked body in her own eyes and those of onlookers, to a body, pure to others, but still tainted to herself–her daughters pick roses from her hackles. Finally, she becomes a trust-worthy witch, holding the sun in her arms" (54). Hoffman also asserts that Sexton uses the poem to finally discover that one doesn't just 'play' at life, one has to live it (54).

I know this is a difficult poem to interpret - but I hope this helps a bit. Remember that if it seems really random, it's supposed to be. As Hoffman points out, Sexton is trying to 'find' herself and figure out what life is all about, and until she can do that, she keeps changing within the poem, trying things out. I think you need to focus on the emotion of the poem - this isn't an Emily Dickinson poem (pretty, but easy to boil down to death) - the poet was in pain and using this poem to work through it. Think about it from that perspective and consider the analysis that Hoffman suggests and read it again, see if it makes more sense.

Finally - if you want to quote from Hoffman's essay, don't forget to cite it properly. I gave you all the information you need to do the citation, although you won't be able to follow the link to the original article unless you have access to the JSTOR database through a subscription (if you have access to university electronic resources, for example). I tried to give you chunks big enough to work with. I hope this helps.

Answer 2

I find it irresistible. This is the last sentence from Sex Without Love via Sharon Olds which first confirmed me what poetry is in a position of (it is a little lengthy): they're like best runners: they recognise they're by myself with the avenue floor, the bloodless, the wind, the are compatible in their sneakers, their over-all aerobic- vascular wellness—simply elements, just like the companion within the mattress, and no longer the reality, that is the unmarried frame by myself within the universe in opposition to its possess satisfactory time. Edit: and sure as Cheese Whisperer says I might not be following guidelines...it is near regardless that.