This imagery -- both of a ship and of insecurity and simple "wrongness" -- continues when the speaker says in a direct metaphor that "The sky / is a torn sail" (9-10). On a practical level, this is an image of further uselessness and insecurity aboard the "ship" that is this house.
A torn sail cannot provide any guidance or momentum; in essence, the ship that belongs to a torn sail is a dead one. As the houses have already been compared to ships, the "torn sail" of the sky is automatically -- and no doubt intentionally -- associated with the houses that have heretofore been the main subject of the poem. Thus, the night sky fails to provide any further assurance of security or comfort to the dead ships that are the houses.
Furthermore, the image of a ship with a torn sail is simply spooky -- it reminds one of ghost ships and dark, supernatural doings. The feeling of a supernatural quality is intensified by the use of the word "giants" and the speaker's comment that she feels "like them up there: / exposed, larger than life" (13-14). The supernatural aspects of the poem are not really imbued with any sort of power, however, but rather the speaker seems to view herself at odds with nature. This can also be seen in the speaker's identification as a "naked man" (26). It is difficult to remove all biographical information from the reading of a poem, especially given Rich's pioneering work in feminism and lesbian criticism, and her dedication of the poem to gender critic Denis Levertov. The speaker's identification as a man -- especially a naked one whose "tools are the wrong ones / for what I have to do" -- can have many meanings, but ignoring the sexual and gender implications in a poem by this author would be as foolish as limiting the reading with such gender and sexuality-based interpretations (24-25).
Leaving aside the gender interpretations,...
At present, the meter readers believe that all advances in technology have not benefitted them, in terms of making their work easier or improving their wages or benefits. All the new innovations have done have sufficed to make it easier for management to 'speed up' the work requirements, with no added benefit in terms of wages or ease of work. The leadership of the union is in a state of
This is evident from the first as the poet writes, I am inside someone -- who hates me. I look out from his eyes (1-3). This approach allows him to take a jaundiced view of himself and criticize his own shortcomings, as if they were those of someone else. He says he hates himself, meaning more that he hates some of the things he has done and that he may expect
Improving on-the-job training and streamlining standardized procedures might be a more effective way to meet company objectives. Q3. What legal ramifications, if any, should Sam have considered? Furthermore, Sam's company could be facing serious legal problems, as a result of needlessly increasing educational requirements for readers. In the "landmark Griggs v. Duke Power Co. case of 1971, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled against Duke's requirement of high school diplomas or IQ
Municipal WiFi network Potential to spark investment Getting a high-speed connection for a business can be quite costly and most businesses prefer to stay without an internet connection. With a municipal WiFi network, businesses have the potential to access the internet at low cost and without having to make huge initial investments (Ylipulli, Suopajarvi, Ojala, Kostakos, & Kukka, 2014). The marina has the potential to attract many investors and other businesses, but
Labor Relations Automation in the Workplace Technology has changed the workplace with the potential to automat many processes. The jobs which have been impacted may be seen in many industries. Initially, automation was seen as impacting on manufacturing, where the creation of robots to undertake many of the manufacturing process as seen as having the potential to eliminate almost all manual manufacturing jobs (Sloane and Witney, 2010). These were over estimates, as
Night the Crystals Broke Write where you got inspiration from? The inspiration from this poem comes from my grandmother and her family, who lived through the pogroms and just before the Nazis took over Hungary. The title refers to the Kristallnacht, the event in which the Nazis burned synagogues and their religious items, and broke the windows. They also broke the windows of the local businesses. This poem also refers to
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now