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Transcript

Paraphrased Poem

Themes

The Speaker

  • The speaker and a companion are traveling down the highway in Minnesota at night and encounter a pair of horses in a field.
  • The horses welcome them and the humans cross a barbed wire fence to get up close and personal with the horses.
  • The horses are alone and excited to see the speaker and his friend. Although lonely, the horses are clearly in love.
  • The speaker expresses their desire to embrace the female horse as she walked over to the speaker.
  • The speaker gives a description of the female horse and admires her beauty as they stroke the horse and compares her to a human girl.
  • The speaker has a revelation concerning his own life after this experience with the horse.
  • Love
  • Horses are in love -"They love each other." (line 11)
  • Speaker says "If I stepped out of my body I would break/ Into blossom" (lines 23-4) could compare this description to the sensation of falling in love
  • Loneliness
  • Horses are described as lonely/alone: "There is no loneliness like theirs" (line 12). Separated from other horses and humans by the barbed wire fencing.
  • Interaction between humans and nature
  • The speaker encountered a realization/revelation about love after spending time in nature with the horses who were in love- inspired by the horses' love- the speaker most likely views occurrences like this as enriching and important
  • Describes the poem in first person & in present tense
  • Ex: "We step over the barbed wire"
  • Audience reads the poem from speaker's perspective & get to "hear" their thoughts, especially the revelation at the end
  • Uses informal diction, colloquial language, somewhat blunt, plain, & direct statements as well as complex run-on sentences- indicates a middle class speaker
  • Ex: "my friend and me" (line 6); "They love each other." (line 11) - simple sentences
  • Ex: Lines 18-21 - a detailed run-on
  • It is unknown whether the speaker is a male or female...
  • ...But one could argue that the speaker is male- speaker is attracted to the female horse & compares her to a human girl (line 21)

Symbols

Meaning of the Title

  • Swans- symbolize love and companionship- swans mate for life- compared to the pair of horses that are in love
  • Barbed Wire Fence- indicates the separation between the horses and the rest of the world- they're fenced in- this is why they are described as alone
  • Spring- symbolizes newness and fresh starts & beginnings- speaker has a new revelation/ thought after the encounter with horses and nature
  • Twilight/Darkness- does not symbolize death or evil as darkness usually does, is used to convey a sort of hazy, mysterious atmosphere
  • The term "blessing" generally has something to do with religion or something spiritual. However, no mention of any god or worship was made in the poem.
  • The speaker may have felt a blessing or cleansing from connecting with the lonely ponies. May have felt new-found appreciation for the ponies or the people that were in their life at the time
  • Or... perhaps the ponies' loneliness was put to an end by the presence of their visitors, causing them to be the blessed ones
  • Or... maybe both the speaker & ponies are blessed because of the experience
  • Side note-James Wright was an Atheist. Although we can't assume he is the speaker, this is interesting because the content of the poem (the end of the poem especially) is considered spiritual (different than religious). His life influences bring a different take on the meaning of the usage of "A Blessing"

Connotations

Lines 1-8

Analysis of Meter & Form

Context

  • Poem is written in free verse with no detectable meter or rhyme scheme
  • Varied line and sentence lengths create a casual and conversational feel
  • There is no separation of ideas with stanza breaks because the poem isn't broken into stanzas- because of this there is unity of thought with a focus on the ponies and the effect of the ponies on the speaker
  • Uses enjambment & punctuation to highlight certain ideas- at the end of line 8, the word "alone" is set apart with punctuation, while the last word of line 9, "happiness," is in the middle of the sentence (enjambment). These two ideas are juxtaposed and enhanced by the technical placement of the words and punctuation
  • Author- James Arlington Wright (1927-1980)
  • Born in Ohio
  • Suffered from depression, bipolar mood disorders, alcoholism, nervous breakdowns- these sufferings influenced his poetry
  • Parents weren't educated beyond 8th grade, witnessed poverty and suffering at a young age- more influences
  • Was an Atheist- interesting because the title of the poem refers to "A Blessing"
  • Taught and attended numerous colleges
  • Won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1972
  • Poem's Time, Era, & Place-
  • Published in 1963, poem takes place near Rochester, Minnesota
  • 1960s
  • Published during the Era of Modernism - make it new!!
  • Modernist characteristics: Precise imagery, clear & sharp language, short and straight to the point, emphasizes sincerity & intelligence, poets have the ability to look clearly at the world

Mood, Atmosphere,

Tone, and Style

  • Darkness mentioned several times-not given a good or bad connotation. The darkness in the ponies' eyes seems kind, not sinister.
  • "The eyes of those two Indian ponies/ Darken with kindness" (lines 4-5)- juxtaposition
  • The "Twilight [that] bounds softly forth on the grass" (line 2) contributes to the feeling of darkness, but it's calming- almost nighttime
  • Horses are a lonely pair, although they have each other
  • They had "been grazing all day, alone," (line 8) and were noticeably glad to see visitors: "They have come gladly out of the willows/ To welcome my friend and me" (lines 5-6).
  • The word "alone" is set apart from the rest of the sentence with the comma before & period after. Extra focus on the idea of loneliness
  • Separation between the horses and the humans- but the humans "crossed the line"
  • "We step over the barbed wire into the pasture" (line 7)- barbed wire fencing reinforces idea of separation- keeps horses inside the fence while deterring outsiders- should the humans be in there?
  • The horses are "Indian ponies" (line 3). "Indian"= wild, free -yet they are enclosed within the fencing- contrasting ideas
  • The willows that the ponies emerge from (line 5) = represents feelings of sadness & loneliness- also symbolizes inner vision and dreams- foreshadows speaker's revelation at the end
  • Mood & Atmosphere:
  • A calming, soothing, & serene poem. Setting contributes- during nighttime, in a pasture, alone.
  • A feeling of loneliness emerges, as the horses seem so alone.
  • Also feel the love and tension between both of the horses and the speaker and the female horse.
  • Final lines of the poem are refreshing as the speaker has their revitalizing spiritual revelation
  • Tone & Style:
  • There is an emphasis on nature, with the mention of trees, grass, etc.
  • Use of figurative language to describe the horses, the female one in particular
  • Contrast between loneliness & love/happiness
  • Peaceful, thoughtful, appreciative of the nature and beauty present- leads to speaker's revelation

James Wright

Connotations

Lines 9-16

"A Blessing"

A Poetic Explication of James Wright's "A Blessing"

Connotations

Lines 17-24

  • Revisit the ideas of the ponies' happiness and loneliness- contrasting emotions play into each other.
  • "they can hardly contain their happiness/ That we have come." (lines 9-10)- it must not be often that they get visitors- they crave interaction
  • "There is no loneliness like theirs." (line 12) - this stresses the concept of their separation & lack of interaction with other animals and humans- each horse might not be content with just the company of their lover
  • Horses-"wet swans," "love each other" (line 11) -swans mate for life, and symbolize romantic love, so the horses must truly be in love (Simile)
  • "Young tufts of spring" (line 14)- describes the grass- "spring" gives off the connotation of freshness, renewal, and hope (metonymy)
  • "I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms" (line 15)- speaker differentiates between the two horses and is drawn to the female one
  • Shift in the poem occurs when the speaker focuses

By Madi, Cassie, and Bridget

Conclusion

  • "She is black and white/ Her mane falls wild" (lines 18-9)- again the idea of a wild, Indian pony that probably shouldn't be fenced in
  • Speaker compares the female horse's ear to the "delicate [...] skin over a girl's wrist" (lines 19-20)- evokes the idea of emotional/physical closeness between horse and human (Simile)
  • "Light breeze," "caress," & "delicate" (lines 20-1) all give off the feeling of a calm, peaceful scene and tender interactions between the speaker and the pony
  • "Suddenly I realize/ That if I stepped out of my body I would break/ Into blossom" (lines 22-4)
  • "out of my body" gives us the idea that the speaker is encountering a unique and almost indescribable spiritual/emotional experience
  • "Break"=negative, dangerous connotation. "Into blossom"= a beautiful image. Could we compare phrase to "falling in love"? This can be a risky, yet beautiful and rewarding experience. It does seem to be a spiritual feeling of euphoria, which would be hard for anyone to describe

Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,

Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.

And the eyes of those two Indian ponies

Darken with kindness.

They have come gladly out of the willows

To welcome my friend and me.

We step over the barbed wire into the pasture

Where they have been grazing all day, alone.

They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness

That we have come.

They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other.

There is no loneliness like theirs.

At home once more,

They begin munching the young tufts of spring in the darkness.

I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms.

For she has walked over to me

And nuzzled my left hand.

She is black and white,

Her mane falls wild on her forehead,

And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear

That is delicate as the skin over a girl's wrist.

Suddenly I realized

That if I stepped out of my body I would break

Into blossom.

on the female horse in particular

  • What was James Wright trying to convey with this poem?
  • Was his focus on the state of loneliness a reflection of his own life? Perhaps he felt lonely in a similar way to the ponies did or feel fenced in like the horses were
  • This could also be considered a statement about love- perhaps Wright identified with the way the speaker described himself as "breaking into blossom" (a.k.a. falling in love)
  • Other thoughts?
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