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jlp7b
, December 03, 2006
(view all comments by jlp7b)
Reading Adrienne Rich?s Midnight Salvage is like trying to assemble a jigsaw puzzle. When I started reading the book, I felt completely lost. I had no idea where to begin or focus first, as if I had just opened a box and dumped the puzzle pieces haphazardly onto the floor. Feeling overwhelmed, I turned to the additional material from Rich?s, What is Found There, in search of some guidance. Reading her essays, especially ?Dearest Arturo,? was like turning over the box lid to see the picture of the completed puzzle. This letter provided a bit of insight into Rich?s life, as it addressed her upbringing, physical handicap, sexual orientation, and political beliefs. Though these things do not completely define her as a person, they give an idea of her perspective and the issues she has faced in her life. Now that I could see the big picture, it was easier to dive back into the book and attempt to fit the other pieces into place. As I read, I noticed several recurring themes in Rich?s poems, as well as her effective use of imagery, but found myself continually fumbling with the unfamiliar vocabulary, like the oddly shaped puzzle pieces that never quite seem to belong.
Adrienne Rich does not appear to be an unhappy person. Her poetry, though not particularly dark or angry, is not really optimistic or uplifting either. She writes not necessarily about being happy, but about finding and understanding happiness and hope. She does not try to quantify happiness, but to somehow define it. In ?Camino Real,? Rich references fellow poet Charles Olson?s view of happiness, then states her own interpretation in the lines, ?I take him to mean/ that happiness is in itself is a magical study? (51-52). This leads me to believe that, to Rich, happiness is ethereal. It is perhaps attainable, but also elusive and unpredictable, and thus difficult to classify. Later in ?Camino Real?, she writes, ?at the end of a day/ of great happiness if there be such a day? (63-64), which sounds slightly pessimistic, as if she believes such a day of happiness and perfection cannot exist. I would like to know the poet?s criteria for a day of great happiness.
In addition to the theme of happiness, Rich?s poems often deal with feelings of loneliness and isolation. In ?Letters to a Young Poet,? Rich writes, ?I wanted not to be/ there so alone? (76-77). Although this statement is fairly straightforward, it did not mean much to me until I read ?Dearest Arturo,? and realized the poet?s reasons for feeling alone. It is not loneliness in the simple sense of wanting the company of another human being, but the loneliness of a unique and difficult situation, the loneliness of having no one who can truly share the pain of life. There is a sense of desperation in Rich?s writing, a yearning to overcome both the physical limitations of her disability, as well as the limitations imposed on women in modern society. In ?Seven Skins,? Rich captures this quest for self-improvement:
What a girl I was then what a body
ready for breaking open like a lobster
what a little provincial village
what a hermit crab seeking nobler shells (59-62).
I like the image of the hermit crab because it perfectly illustrates the need for growth and change. Rich, like a hermit crab, does not want to be restricted, and the ?nobler shells? are her goals and aspirations. After reading this passage, I more fully understood the speaker?s desire to conquer obstacles and evolve, and I empathized with the idea of wanting more out of life.
Whenever I had difficulty finding meaning in Rich?s poems, I turned to her vivid descriptions. In poems that span several pages, her use of imagery catches my attention and helps redirect my focus. For instance, I was quite startled by the gory scene in ?Shattered Head,? when Rich describes the ?(porridge of skull-splinters, brain tissue/ mouth and throat membrane, cranial fluid)? (14-15). This graphic detail is so arresting that it is impossible not to continue reading. I also like the image Rich uses at the end of ?Seven Skins.? Though most of the poem focuses on another person, Vic Greenberg, it ends with an intimate image involving both Vic and the speaker. Rich describes the moment as a ?heroic tremor/ released into pure moisture? (88-89), an image that artfully evokes the passion and intensity of the situation.
The most challenging piece of Rich?s poetry puzzle is her extensive vocabulary. Because my use of context clues failed me as I encountered unknown words, I consulted a dictionary to avoid misinterpreting things. For instance, the third section of ?Midnight Salvage? made much more sense after learning the correct definition of ?soothsayers.? Some meanings, however, still elude me. Rich uses the word ?lozenge? twice in the poem ?Modotti,? but its definition seems inconsistent. At first, I thought it was a light, as in the ?streetlamp?s wet lozenge? (9), but I could not make sense of the ?bathtub?s lozenge? (18). Why would there be a light in the bathtub? Structurally speaking, I am confused as to why Rich punctuates certain lines with double colons, as she does in ?Midnight Salvage? and ?Camino Real.? This use of colons does not seem any more effective than the use of indentations or line breaks. However, one possible explanation might be that they serve as a replacement for a word, a sign something was deleted there, like an invitation to fill in the blank with a word of the reader?s choosing.
Reading Adrienne Rich?s Midnight Salvage is challenging and requires more effort than one might expect. She does not neatly arrange things, allowing the reader to easily understand every word. I worked to find meaning in Rich?s poetry, questioning and changing as I tried to make the pieces fit. Completing Midnight Salvage, like finally finishing a good puzzle, left me feeling fulfilled, as if I had truly accomplished something.
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