Oh starry starry night! This is howI want to die:
I think Sexton really related to Van Gogh. He was a tortured soul that also dealt with mental illness and had his own issues with mortality. Many of his paintings have sorrowful, and wistful elements.
The old unseen serpent swallows up the stars.Oh starry starry night! This is howI want to die:into that rushing beast of the night,sucked up by that great dragon, to split
Serpent, Beast, Dragon - All words that seem to illustrate death.
The images of a serpent swallowing up the stars also mirrors Van Gogh's painting of swirls and movement around the stars.
I speak. It is you my silence harms.I should have known; I should have toldthem something to write down. My voice alarmsmy throat. 'Name of father-none.' I holdyou and name you bastard in my arms.
The doctors are cold to her and judging her for not naming the father of the child. She has no one to gain comfort from, except that from her infant.
My armsfit you like a sleeve
They were quite literally made for one another.
They are blue stones, they beginto outgrow their moss. You blink in surpriseand I wonder what you can see, my funny kin,as you trouble my silence. I am a shelter of lies.Should I learn to speak again, or hopeless insuch sanity will I touch some face I recognize?
The child is mesmerized by the mother. Hers is the first face that the baby sees, and though the baby does't understand what words the mother is speaking there is still wonder and love there. The mother is just as enamored by the baby.
They guess about the man who left me,some pendulum soul, going the way men goand leave you full of child. But our case historystays blank. All I did was let you grow.Now we are here for all the ward to see.
Society tends to form their own opinions without knowledge.
Child
To me a child is the epitome of innocence. It takes nine long months for a baby to grow within a womb, and they are completely dependent on the mother for life and nourishment.
enamel
an opaque or semitransparent glassy substance applied to metallic or other hard surfaces for ornament or as a protective coating. synonyms: coating, lacquer, varnish, glaze, finish "shiny red enamel"
'Young girls in old Arabia were often buried alive nextto their fathers, apparently as sacrifice to the goddessesof the tribes…'
Keeping in mind that Sexton wrote confessional poetry, this poem reads as if she were trying, somehow, to relate to these young girls. Dying for someone else is truly the ultimate sacrifice. This concept seems to be held in high esteem by Sexton.
Leaguered in fire The wild black promontories of the coast extend
Description of the sharp and bold colors of autumn, the same as fire. Oranges and yellows and reds.
The sun in universal carnage sets,
Colorful imagery, carnage=blood=colors of red
She lies where none has lain before, Where certainly none will follow after.
Her final resting place, her grave site. No one will follow after her.
She has attained the permanence She dreamed of, where old stones lie sunning.
Ironic statement, the permanence being death.
And all my pretty follies flung aside That won you to me, and beneath your gaze, Naked of reticence and shorn of pride, Spread like a chart my little wicked ways.
Aware of her foolishness and shallow ways of attracting a lover. Wishing she were able to lay down her pride and truly be "seen".
I think I should have loved you presently,
Regretful. Wishing she had done differently.
I think I should have loved you presently, And given in earnest words I flung in jest; And lifted honest eyes for you to see,
It's easier to fall in love with someone, then to be honest with them and show them our inner selves.
jest
a thing said or done for amusement; a joke
speak or act in a joking manner.
Solitaire
Lowell definitely animates the "night" in this piece. She gives it a playful personality, almost childlike.
With those same Boots of Lead, again, Then Space – began to toll, As all the Heavens were a Bell, And Being, but an Ear,
She uses a lot of auditory imagery in this poem. The sound of the "mourners" weren't simple paces, they were loud stomping sounds in her head. Comparatively, the Heavens had a sweet bell sound. These two bookend sounds are indicative of her tormented thoughts followed by some sort of reprieve.
Whose crumbs the crows inspect And with ironic caw Flap past it to the Farmer’s Corn
For a bird to pass over these crumbs, further illustrates the shallowness of man. I believe that usually crows are the symbol of death or ill-fated magic, which underlines the "ironic caw".
“How to forget”! Say — some — Philosopher! Ah, to be erudite Enough to know!
The tone here sounds very woeful and heartbreaking, but also frustrated. It sounds like she is pitying herself for not having the ability to "get over" it.
Dull Hearts have died In the Acquisition
Perhaps she was involved in a one-sided romance, or a relationship that regretfully ended.
Is it in a Book? So, I could buy it — Is it like a Planet? Telescopes would know — If it be invention It must have a Patent.
She's feeling an intense longing to forget this, perhaps, unrequited love or love lost. She seems to be at a loss for how to deal with these emotions.