“The topic of loss and separation in poetry”

written by:

Hanno Frey

Contents

1 Introduction  4

2 Analysis of three poems  4
2.1 Anne Sexton: “THE BREAK AWAY”  4
2.2 Kenneth Rexroth: “SHE IS AWAY”  9
2.3 Stanley Kunitz: “RIVER ROAD”  11

3 Conclusion 13

4 Selected Bibliography  17
4.1 Primary Sources  17
4.2 Secondary Sources  17

1 Introduction

As the title suggests, this term paper deals with the topic of loss and separation in poetry. The texts which have been chosen as relevant material are the poems “THE BREAK AWAY ” by Anne Sexton, “SHE IS AWAY” by Kenneth Rexroth and “RIVER ROAD” by Stanley Kunitz¹. These three poems center around the same problem but they differ not only in the perspective of the lyrical I² but also in certain stylistic devices. It is the aim of this term paper to point some of these differences out and to describe the concept of loss and separation, i.e.: how loss and separation are perceived in each case by the lyrical I. In this context it should be mentioned that not all relevant elements of each poem can be taken into consideration- doing so would go beyond the scope of this term paper³. Consequently, the main idea is to present some basic ideas.

In some cases it will be necessary to look at certain parts of a poem in great detail. There will also be some autobiographical references to the lives of the authors – mainly to Anne Sexton and Kenneth Rexroth as only very few material has been available about Stanley Kunitz. In doing so the reader must be aware of the fact that the poems do surely not present totally autobiographical experiences- nevertheless it seems to be quite impossible to strictly keep these out of them.

2 Analysis of three poems

2.1 Anne Sexton: “THE BREAK AWAY”

Anne Sexton’s poem “THE BREAK AWAY” presents the feelings of a personality that seems to be totally split. The lyrical I talks about a broken marriage and enables the reader to share the emotions it has which can be characterised as being something in between fear and hope or happi- and sadness. This juxtaposition is expressed from the first to the last section of the poem. No point of view seems to be dominant as the positive aspects of the broken marriage are described as well as the negative ones. At the end of the poem the reader is left alone with the decision of how to evaluate the story of the divorced couple – just is the lyrical I itself.

The lyrical I describes the courtroom, where the divorce is carried out, as “a cement box” (line 3) and “a gas chamber” (line 4). The images which are used here carry strong elements of death and destruction. This is once more stressed in lines 12 and 13 where it is said that “the courtroom keeps squashing our lives as they break/ into two cans ready for recycling” (line 13). The situation the divorce causes seems to be very problematic and it is obvious that the lyrical I does not know how to cope with it. Is the life after “my twenty-five years of hanging on ” (line 16) a “possibly promised land” (line 5) and- as the promised land did for the Jews- symbolises liberation, or is it just “death” (line 8)? It is not really possible to answer that question4 though it is clear that the elements of betrayal and disappointment which have been part of the described marriage, have certainly left wounds which are still unhealed. One of them is the fact that it has not been possible to keep the promise to stay together “till-death-do-us” (line 7) part. There is a bitter tone in this line which is caused by the broken illusion of endless love and that is why the courtroom is referred to by the antonomasy “betrayal room” (line 7). But even though the love between the two partners has vanished, there is still a connection between them which is represented by the daisies. In line 1 the lyrical I states that “your daisies have come”. When reading this passage, the image that comes into the reader’s mind is the one of a husband who knows that daisies are the favourite flowers of his wife and therefore sends her some as often as he can. The question arises whether this has been the case in the presented marriage. If so, then what in former time has been a sign of community is now a bitter reminder of the fact that the marriage is over- especially because they “have come/ on the day” (lines 1/2) which is supposed to be an end. 

[...]

1 All references within a certain chapter deal with the specific poem the chapter is about.

2 As the author of a poem and the lyrical I speaking are not necessarily identical „it“ is used as the
pronoun referring to the lyrical I of each poem.

3 Especially in the case of Anne Sexton’s poem “THE BREAK AWAY”.