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Transcript

A Valediction Forbidding Mourning

Adrienne Rich...

My swirling wants. Your frozen lips.

The grammar turned and attacked me.

Themes, written under duress.

Emptiness of the notations.

They gave me a drug that slowed the healing of wounds.

I want you to see this before I leave:

the experience of repetition as death

the failure of criticism to locate the pain

the poster in the bus that said:

my bleeding is under control

A red plant in a cemetary of plastic wreaths.

A last attempt: the language is a dialect called metaphor.

These images go unglossed: hair, glacier, flashlight.

When I think of a landscape I am thinking of a time.

When I talk of taking a trip I mean forever.

I could say: those mountains have a meaning

but further than that I could not say.

To do something very common, in my own way.

CONTEXT

This poem was written in 1971. During the 1970s, Rich consciously continued to reflect her deepening commitment to feminism through her writing. Her experiences and observations of society have been reflected in this poem. It was during the 1970s that Rich's husband committed suicide. There are multiple interpretations of what this poem is about. One interpretation views the poem as a metaphor for Rich's real relationship with her husband. It suggests that his death perhaps caused Rich to ponder about her own mortality and what she would leave behind when she died.

However on closer inspection, it's evident that a more deeper meaning can be derived. The poem explores the role of female poets and authors in society. It highlights how women have been forced to conform to the standards and ideals of the dominant men in terms of what they express in their writing. However in both interpretations, the speaker is urging the addressee to acknowledge what is being said.

Background Information

Adrienne Rich used the same title as John Donne's poem written in the early 16th century. His poem entails the departure of two lovers. In it the male speaker urges his lover not to mourn over their separation. He tells her that their love doesn't require the need for the physical presence to be validated.

Rich's utilization of the same title thus makes an interesting statement. Firstly, she establishes that this poem is not about the love between a man and a woman. The irony of using the title of a love poem only to negate the whole idea of love is emphasized. Instead she writes of men being hindrances to women by controlling their "swirling wants". Secondly. the writer is a woman. As Donne's poem was widely read, to now have a poem by the same title only written by a female re-emphasizes the expected gender roles prevalent in society which Rich defies by using writing this poem.

Form, rhythmic pattern and rhyme scheme

The poem is essentially divided into 6 stanzas. These six stanzas are comprised of 3 full stanzas and 3 single line. Thus the single lined interrupt the flow of each of the full stanzas. Further still, this fragmented arrangement of the poem establishes a sense of urgency to let it out and make known.

The number of lines increase by one in each of the full stanzas.There are four lines in the first verse, then in the second there are five and finally in the last one there is six lines. This perhaps suggest that as the poem continues the speaker is gaining confidence to say more and have it heard.

There is no rhyme scheme or rhythmic pattern to be found in this poem.

First Stanza

The speaker is addressing men in general who are prohibiting females from self-expression. The "your" here is a hindrance of men to the desires of women. Her "swirling wants" as a female poet to express herself through her art is met by the "frozen lips" of men who are indignant to read female poetry.The jagged broken lines imply an urgency to the speaker's speech. The fragmentation of her sentences may not be grammatically correct, however this doesn't bother her as the grammar of men has already "turned and attacked" her. The socially accepted language and grammar of that time was predominantly what men deemed as appropriate. Consequently,many times it would not have aligned with the ideas and desires women wanted to express. Ideas such as feminine experiences, women's liberation, lesbianism. Rich is expressing that the language has betrayed her and thus she does not feel the need to follow grammatical conventions in this poem. Further still Rich is criticizing that everything that women have written up to this point has been under "duress" or threat by men. It's always been about the same themes and concepts, thus there is no real depth in what is written just "emptiness".

Second Stanza

As short as this stanza is, it highlights the dominance of men. The use of "drugs" in this context is contradictory to their conventional use. Instead of healing they now create more pain and suffering. "They" being the people who Rich has been in conflict with, have not only "attacked" her but now poisoned her source of healing - her ability to write without limitations. The traumatic life experiences which have wounded women have been prolonged. Woman have been induced by this "drug" to believe that it will get better when i fact nothing has changed.

Third Stanza

As opposed to the first two stanzas which speak of the past, the third stanza entails what needs to be done in the present. The speaker wants men to acknowledge her perspective and experiences. In this paragraph, Rich addresses both men and women. "Before i leave" suggests her impending death by which time she hopes to see change in society.

"the experience of repetition as death" serves two functions. Firstly, the repetition of complacency of women. Rich's passion of women's liberation is stressed in this line as she claims such repetition is essentially death. Secondly, Rich is referring to the repetition of the female literary sphere in which the same "themes" are written about. Rich is seeking to leave a legacy of fearless women who break boundaries and exceed limitations of society in regard to their profession. Rich foresees after death her death the artificial laying of "red plants". She sees no real admiration for women and their legacy after they have died. Once again she has defied the conventions of grammar by misspelling cemetery with an 'a'.

This stanza also has extreme feminist connotations expressed acutely in the last two lines. The speaker wants everyone, especially women to see how men have manipulated their rights as females. That is the audacity of the masculine audience to control the "bleeding" process which is exclusively associated with womanhood.

Rich's last attempt to be heard is shown in the last stanza. In order to bring change women set upon uncharted waters and make themselves known. Thus a new language is created "called metaphor". The images of "hair glacier and flashlight" are now symbols in the light of the new "dialect". "Unglossed" suggests that these new language conventions (women expressing themselves) will not be immediately accepted or even be appropriate to some, thus they carry an authentic significance.

When I think of a landscape I am thinking of a time.

When I talk of taking a trip I mean forever.

Rich has juxtaposed finite ideas of place and journey with the abstract ideas of eternity. These two lines are symbolic metaphors for the true feelings and thoughts of women. Despite capabilities of women to think beyond the literal, they are only expected to express the what's on the surface. This is evident in the line

I could say: those mountains have a meaning

but further than that I could not say.

The final line of the poem reinforces the the need for individuality and diversity in female poems and books. the "common thing" being writing, composing, painting, sculpting and whatever artistic medium available to women by which they can express their every desire in their "own way"

I urge you to do something common in your own way

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