Adrienne Rich
(photo from poets.org)
Born: May 16, 1929
About Adrienne
Adrienne was born May 16, 1929. She grew up in Baltimore and later
graduated from Radcliffe College. She was selected for the Yale Series of
Younger Poets prize in 1951, at the age of twenty-two.
After divorcing husband of seventeen years, Alfred Conrad, Adrienne went
on to win many more awards for her poetry as well as other publications.
Sometimes her work was considered controversial because she wrote about social
roles of women as well as racism and the Vietnam War. She began writing in what was
called free verse.
Adrienne was twenty years old during the feminist movement. She was also a
grown woman during the civil rights movement and Vietnam War. This is when she
created a book of poems that were usually angry but also explanatory. The successes
of this collection lead to an award that Adrienne accepted for herself as well as
all women.
Ms. Rich has another nine collections published. She has received numerous
awards over the years for her work. But, Adrienne has also denied an award in
the past because she didn’t believe in the basis upon which it was presented.
Poetry By Adrienne
Diving into the Wreck
First having read the book of myths,
and loaded the camera,
and checked the edge of the knife-blade,
I put on
the body-armor of black rubber
the absurd flippers
the grave and awkward mask.
I am having to do this
not like Cousteau with his
assiduous team
aboard the sun-flooded schooner
but here alone.
There is a ladder.
The ladder is always there
hanging innocently
close to the side of the schooner.
We know what it is for,
we who have used it.
Otherwise
it is a piece of maritime floss
some sundry equipment.
I go down.
Rung after rung and still
the oxygen immerses me
the blue light
the clear atoms
of our human air.
I go down.
My flippers cripple me,
I crawl like an insect down the ladder
and there is no one
to tell me when the ocean
will begin.
First the air is blue and then
it is bluer and then green and then
black I am blacking out and yet
my mask is powerful
it pumps my blood with power
the sea is another story
the sea is not a question of power
I have to learn alone
to turn my body without force
In the deep element.
And now: it is easy to forget
what I came for
among so many who have always
lived here
swaying their crenellated fans
between the reefs
and besides
you breathe differently down here.
I came to explore the wreck.
The words are purposes.
The words are maps.
I came to see the damage that was done
and the treasures that would prevail.
I stroke the beam of my lamp
slowly along the flank
of something more permanent
than fish or weed
the thing I came for:
the wreck and not the story of the wreck
the thing itself and not the myth
the drowned face always staring
toward the sun
the evidence of damage
worn by salt and away into this threadbare beauty
the ribs of disaster
curving their assertion
among the tentative haunters.
This is the place.
And I am here, the mermaid whose dark hair
streams black, the merman in his armored body.
We circle silently
about the wreck
we dive into the hold.
I am she: I am he
whose drowned face sleeps with open eyes
whose breasts still bear the stress
whose silver, copper, vermeil cargo lies
obscurely inside barrels
half-wedged and left to rot
we are the half-destroyed instruments
that once held to a course
the water-eaten log
the fouled compass
We are, I am, you are
by cowardice or courage
the one who find our way
back to this scene
carrying a knife, a camera
a book of myths
in which
our names do not appear.
In this poem the speaker tells a detailed story of a journey into the deep
sea. There are myths about a wreck and the narrator chooses to see for
herself instead of believing the stories. The intense details in the
beginning help to build up the ending where she finds the wreck and relates
it to people.
The speaker isn’t really clear in this poem. But, whoever is telling the
story seems to feel strongly about the meaning of the wreck. They take a
lot of time to go into the details of actually getting into the water.
There is more than one setting in this poem. The first seems to be on some
sort of boat or platform that is used to lower a person into the water.
Next the speaker is going down a ladder and then finally reaches the water.
The poem ends as the diver uncovers the wreck.
An emotion evinced by this poem is confusion. The meaning of the poem is
unclear. It is hard to decipher because of the length of the poem. It seems
that the wreck is representing something else in life that there are often
myths about. Knowing the history of Adrienne Rich, one may think that the
wreck has to do with freedom or self-sufficiency among women.
Powerful images include those of the journey down the ladder “rung after
rung” the speaker goes down into the water. Also, when the description of
changing colors is talked about, puts a vivid picture in the heads of
readers.
A surprising element of this poem is the underlying meaning. When other
analyses of this poem are read, it is easier to understand what Adrienne
Rich may be writing about. The poem is great with detail and really allows
a reader to put themselves in the shoes of the person diving into the
wreck.
Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
Aunt Jennifer’s tigers prance across a screen,
Bright topaz denizens of a world of green.
They do not fear the men beneath the tree;
They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.
Aunt Jennifer’s fingers fluttering through her wool
Find even the ivory needle hard to pull.
The massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band
Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand.
When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie
Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.
The tigers in the panel that she mad
Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.
Described in this poem is the experience that a married woman might
experience. Aunt Jennifer is creating a screen with tigers on it. The
tigers may represent an independent animal that Aunt Jennifer wishes to be.
They are a bright topaz color instead of just a usual or normal green
color. The tigers are free and don’t fear men, as Aunt Jennifer wishes she
could do. The tigers here are also described to be chivalric, or courteous
and considerate. This may be what she wishes of her husband. They weight of
her wedding band is holding her back in the making of this screen. And,
even when Aunt Jennifer dies she will still wear the ring which brings
along the hardships of this marriage. But, the tigers will still be free to
do as they want.
The speaker in this poem seems to be a family member of Aunt Jennifer; a
niece or a nephew because they refer to them as “aunt” and “uncle”. The
narrator doesn’t express strong feelings about the situation. They just
tell the story of what is happening, or what they have heard, possibly from
Aunt Jennifer themselves.
The setting is wherever Aunt Jennifer is creating the screen work; most
likely in a home setting.
The emotions evinced from this poem are strong. Feelings of self
sufficiency and the desire to be free come about. Aunt Jennifer doesn’t
seem to be happy because of her marriage. A reader may too think negatively
about the effects of marriage.
A powerful image in this poem is in line seven. “The massive weight of
Uncle’s wedding band”. This makes you think that a huge ring is holding her
down. When really, the ring itself may not even by that large but, the
commitments involved and the things a person must give up once in a
relationship are what is weighing Aunt Jennifer down.
The most pleasing part of this poem is the idea that Aunt Jennifer chooses
crafts to express her feelings of inequality. She may not be able to talk
about them, but she finds a way to depict them in a very creative way using
tigers and screen work.
Links
Sources
The information on this page was collected from poets.org and americanpoems.com