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| omnipoetics:diving_into_the_wreck [2025/04/23 23:51] – [Jungian Lens] mahrukh | omnipoetics:diving_into_the_wreck [2025/04/24 00:49] (current) – holly | ||
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| - | ====== Diving Into the Wreck ====== | ||
| <WRAP center round info 60%> | <WRAP center round info 60%> | ||
| - | //**The Serpent and The Fire**// **(pp. 621-624)** | + | //The Serpent and The Fire// (pp. 621-624) |
| </ | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | ====== Diving Into the Wreck ====== | ||
| ====== Adrienne Rich ====== | ====== Adrienne Rich ====== | ||
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| Adrienne Rich’s (1929-2012) career spanned seven decades, with tons of poetry and essays written in that time frame. Her work from the 60s and 70s was considered radical due to its free verse form as well as the feminist and political stances she would take. Her work inspired many second-wave feminists, and by the time she died, she was “one of the most respected American Poets” (Poetry Foundation). For more information, | Adrienne Rich’s (1929-2012) career spanned seven decades, with tons of poetry and essays written in that time frame. Her work from the 60s and 70s was considered radical due to its free verse form as well as the feminist and political stances she would take. Her work inspired many second-wave feminists, and by the time she died, she was “one of the most respected American Poets” (Poetry Foundation). For more information, | ||
| - | ====== | + | ====== |
| ==== The Book of Myths ==== | ==== The Book of Myths ==== | ||
| - | < | + | < |
| - | And loaded the camera,/ | + | And loaded the camera, |
| - | And checked the edge of the knife-blade, | + | And checked the edge of the knife-blade, |
| - | I put on/ | + | I put on |
| - | the body-armor of black rubber/ | + | the body-armor of black rubber |
| - | the absurd flippers/ | + | the absurd flippers |
| - | the grave and awkward mask.// (Lines 1-7)</ | + | the grave and awkward mask. (Lines 1-7) </ |
| This book of myths gets mentioned throughout the poem and indeed, is the leading force of the poem. Myths, in essence, symbolize various social, cultural, and sometimes historical narratives that shape a society; think ancient Greece, for example. However, as these myths get passed down from generation to generation, you lose information and details, and suddenly the story is far from reality. It is this fact that myths can become misleading or false over time that sends our speaker into the wreck to figure out what is happening. Readers can infer this by looking at the following lines: | This book of myths gets mentioned throughout the poem and indeed, is the leading force of the poem. Myths, in essence, symbolize various social, cultural, and sometimes historical narratives that shape a society; think ancient Greece, for example. However, as these myths get passed down from generation to generation, you lose information and details, and suddenly the story is far from reality. It is this fact that myths can become misleading or false over time that sends our speaker into the wreck to figure out what is happening. Readers can infer this by looking at the following lines: | ||
| - | < | + | < |
| - | The thing itself and not the myth//. (lines 62-63)</ | + | The thing itself and not the myth. (lines 62-63) |
| Rich wants readers to look deeper than what they’ve been told or what they’ve read; to find some hidden truth about the world, or even just about themselves that they have yet to figure out. | Rich wants readers to look deeper than what they’ve been told or what they’ve read; to find some hidden truth about the world, or even just about themselves that they have yet to figure out. | ||
| Line 29: | Line 30: | ||
| ==== The Wreck ==== | ==== The Wreck ==== | ||
| - | The word Wreck itself could refer to any destructive event, disaster, or trauma in the world as a whole or just the speaker themselves. It appears multiple times throughout the poem. Readers can infer that the wreck is underwater due to the fact that the speck is getting dressed in diving gear and is jumping into the water. This heavily implies that the water acts as some sort of a shield or barrier that keeps the wreck hidden from sight; and everyone knows the saying | + | The word // |
| + | ====== Form ====== | ||
| ==== Descent/ | ==== Descent/ | ||
| As the title says, the speaker is diving into the wreck, and is in a constant downward descent during the poem. Rich wants readers to feel/see the descent themselves as the speaker experiences it. Take a look at these lines: | As the title says, the speaker is diving into the wreck, and is in a constant downward descent during the poem. Rich wants readers to feel/see the descent themselves as the speaker experiences it. Take a look at these lines: | ||
| - | < | + | < |
| - | Rung after rung and still/ | + | Rung after rung and still |
| - | the oxygen immerses me/ | + | the oxygen immerses me |
| - | the blue light/ | + | the blue light |
| - | the clear atoms/ | + | the clear atoms |
| - | of our human air./ | + | of our human air. |
| - | I go down.// (lines 22-28)</ | + | I go down. (lines 22-28) |
| - | Rich places emphasis on the fact that the speaker is going down, entering the water, by using the repetitive technique and stating “I go down” twice. Rich makes sure that the reader knows, without confusion, what it is the speaker is doing. Once she’s established the ‘what’, she moves on to make sure the reader can envision what is happening. | + | Rich places emphasis on the fact that the speaker is going down, entering the water, by using the repetitive technique and stating “I go down” twice. Rich makes sure that the reader knows, without confusion, what it is the speaker is doing. Once she’s established the ‘what,’ she moves on to make sure the reader can envision what is happening. |
| - | < | + | < |
| - | it is bluer and then green and then/ | + | it is bluer and then green and then |
| - | black I am blacking out…// (lines 34-37)</ | + | black I am blacking out… (lines 34-37) |
| - | Anyone who knows anything about the ocean knows that the further down you dive, the less there is light from the sun, which in turn, makes the water around you change color until you are at the floor and completely without light. They also know that the further down you div,e the more pressure there is on the diver’s body. Making it hard for the speaker to stay present and focused. Which could very well be the reason why the wreck itself never gets a physical description. | + | Anyone who knows anything about the ocean knows that the further down you dive, the less there is light from the sun, which in turn, makes the water around you change color until you are at the floor and completely without light. They also know that the further down you dive, the more pressure there is on the diver’s body. Making it hard for the speaker to stay present and focused. Which could very well be the reason why the wreck itself never gets a physical description. |
| Usually, when authors invoke descent or falling, it is so readers will attribute some aspect to known concepts like the fall from grace, when the archangels were sent to hell. So to see it not mean anything more than falling, especially in a poem with as much meaning as this one, is an interesting perspective to take on the topic. | Usually, when authors invoke descent or falling, it is so readers will attribute some aspect to known concepts like the fall from grace, when the archangels were sent to hell. So to see it not mean anything more than falling, especially in a poem with as much meaning as this one, is an interesting perspective to take on the topic. | ||
| Line 66: | Line 68: | ||
| ==== Jungian Lens ==== | ==== Jungian Lens ==== | ||
| - | The images that Rich produces in this poem, to me, sounds like an 'active imagination' | + | The images that Rich produces in this poem sounds like an [[https:// |
| When the air gets black, her mask, or the persona pumps her "blood with power." | When the air gets black, her mask, or the persona pumps her "blood with power." | ||
| Line 73: | Line 75: | ||
| - | See also the book from which this poem comes [[Blood Bread and Poetry]] | + | ===== Other Resources ===== |
| - | === Other Resources === | ||
| I found this when I googled the poem: [[https:// | I found this when I googled the poem: [[https:// | ||
| + | See also the book from which this poem comes [[Blood Bread and Poetry]] | ||
| - | + | {{tag> English USA Poem Identity Myth Symbolism Original}} | |
