“Wedding-Ring” by Denise Levertov

Author Denise Levertov was born in London in 1923 and was educated at home by her mother.  Her formal education ended at the age of 12.   She married Mitchell Goodman, who had been studying in Europe on the G.I. Bill, and they had one son.  She came to the United States in 1948.  Both Denise Levertov and her husband were political and anti-war activists.  She divorced in 1974.   Ms. Levertov died of lymphoma in 1997.

 

My wedding-ring lies in a basket

as if at the bottom of a well.

Nothing will come to fish it back up

and onto my finger again.

                    It lies

among keys to abandoned houses,

nails waiting to be needed and hammered

into some wall,

telephone numbers with no names attached,

idle paperclips.

          It can't be given away

for fear of bringing ill-luck.

          It can't be sold

for the marriage was good in its own

time, though that time is gone.

          Could some artificer

beat into it bright stones, transform it

into a dazzling circlet no one could take

for solemn betrothal or to make promises

living will not let them keep? Change it

into a simple gift I could give in friendship?

        The wedding ring in this reflective poem by Denise Levertov symbolizes lost dreams and what used to be (rather than the traditional symbolization associated with a wedding ring of love, commitment, and a promising future/wonderful dreams).  The narrator is a woman whose marriage has disintegrated.   Her ring is at the bottom of a basket, along with other obsolete items, such as keys to abandoned houses, telephone numbers without names, random paperclips and unused nails.    It no longer symbolizes love and togetherness to her as that part of her life is no longer existent, and she sees no hope of her marriage being repaired in the future.   The tone of this poem is sad and suggests disillusionment concerning the end of a relationship.  The words leave the reader feeling that the author did not want the marriage to end.  Metaphor is used in this poem:  “My wedding- ring lies in a basket as if at the bottom of a well…”   This indicates that the wedding ring is no longer held in the same regard as it used to be; that the wedding ring no longer holds the same symbolism for the speaker.   Sadly, it no longer holds the promise of love and commitment.   The “bottom” of a well suggests the depth, darkness and loneliness one feels when they reach the “bottom” or a particularly low point in their life. 

            As mentioned above, the author of the poem (Denise Levertov) divorced in 1974.  This poem was written in 1978 after the failure of her marriage and, therefore, depicts the feelings she was experiencing with the demise of her marriage.   The words of the poem  give the reader the sense that there are still ill feelings remaining, such as when she writes of her wedding ring, “It can’t be given away for fear of bringing ill-luck.  It can’t be sold for the marriage was good in its own time, though that time is gone.”  The token wedding ring no longer symbolizes faith and hope and commitment like in the past.  It almost seems to represent something superstitious.   The narrator wonders if perhaps her wedding ring could be transformed into a piece of jewelry not representative of solemn betrothal or of broken promises and dreams.   

            The use of cacophony and euphony forces the reader to stop at certain points in the poem for emphasis.  It doesn’t have a rhyming pattern and appears to be more in a paragraph form.  People can relate to this poem and empathize with the author over the end of her relationship and the resultant changes in her life. 

“My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke

Author Theodore Roethke was born in Saginaw, Michigan, in 1908, and attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.  He had a rather difficult, lonely childhood. When he was 14, his father died of cancer.  Mr. Roethke developed a fascination with gangsters.  He was considered to be eccentric and nonconformist.    During his adult life, he suffered many mental breakdowns. 

 

The whiskey on your breath

Could make a small boy dizzy;

But I hung on like death:

Such waltzing was not easy.

 

We romped until the pans

Slid from the kitchen shelf;

My mother’s countenance

Could not unfrown itself.

 

The hand that held my wrist

Was battered on one knuckle;

At every step you missed

My right ear scraped a buckle.

 

You beat time on my head

With a palm caked hard by dirt,

Then waltzed me off to bed

Still clinging to your shirt.

 

This intriguing poem entitled My Papa’s Waltz is quite emotionally charged with its implications.  The speaker is a young boy who tells us rather meekly about an encounter with his father who had been drinking.   The speaker does not place direct blame on his father.  However, through word choice and placement, the reader can sense the boy’s uneasiness and fear of the situation.   The setting of this poem is in the family home where intoxicated “Papa” waltzes around awkwardly and rather dangerously with the young boy.  The speaker states that “such waltzing was not easy.”  In the second stanza, the boy tells how they “romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf.”   This seems like quite an understatement.  The boy’s mother is watching the shenanigans; although she is frowning, she appears passive and does not take action to stop this sad interaction between her husband and her son. 

 

            The word choices in the poem hint at possible abuse with the boy being whisked to and fro by a drunken person.   The speaker tells about his right ear scraping a buckle with every step his father missed in this waltz.  The boy was obviously being hurt but did not directly state that this was his father’s fault.   He communicates to us how his father “beat time” on his head; he doesn’t come out and say that his father beat/hit him. 

            The tone/attitude of this poem is submissive on the boy’s part.  He timidly waltzes with his father and doesn’t protest.    The little boy seems almost like a doll flopping around awkwardly during the dance.   Every other line in the four-line stanzas rhyme.  The word choices in this poem emit powerful, rather disturbing images.

“The Night-Wind” by Emily Bronte

        Emily Jane Bronte was born on July 30, 1818, in England.  She died at the young age of 30. Emily felt that her health was compromised by the harsh local climate and unsanitary conditions at home.  She caught a severe cold at the funeral of her brother, which was said to have led to tuberculosis.  She initially refused to be treated.  By the time she agreed to see a physician, it was too late for her. Ms. Bronte was a poet, novelist, and a governess.  She is best remembered for her only novel, Wuthering Heights.  She wrote under the pen name of Ellis Bell. 

In summer's mellow midnight,

A cloudless moon shone through

 Our open parlour window

 And rosetrees wet with dew.

 

 I sat in silent musing,

 The soft wind waved my hair;

 It told me Heaven was glorious

 And sleeping Earth was fair.

 

 I needed not its breathing

 To bring such thoughts to me,

 But still it whispered lowly,

 "How dark the woods will be!

 

 "The thick leaves in my murmur

 Are rustling like a dream,

 And all their myriad voices

 Instinct with spirit seem."

 

 I said "Go, gentle singer

 Thy wooing voice is kind

 But do not think its music

 Has power to reach my mind.

 

 "Play with the scented flower,

 The young tree's supple bough,

 And leave my human feelings

 In their own course to flow."

 

 The Wanderer would not leave me;

 Its kiss grew warmer still -

 "O come", it sighed so sweetly,

 "I'll win thee 'gainst thy will."

 

 "Have we not been from childhood friends?

 Have I not loved thee long?

 As long as though hast loved the night

 Whose silence wakes my song.

 

 "And when thy heart is laid at rest

 Beneath the church-yard stone

 I shall have time enough to mourn

 And thou to be alone."

         The setting for this captivating poem by Emily Bronte is on a cloudless summer night as the speaker sits mesmerized by the enchanting view that is visible through her open parlour window. There is a slight wind lightly blowing as the poem describes, “The thick leaves in my murmur are rustling like a dream…” suggestive of wind gently stirring the leaves on the trees.  The speaker appears to be a female by the tone of the poem and such wording as “The soft wind waved my hair…”  The first line of the poem reveals the temporal setting (time) -- “In summer’s mellow midnight…” The exact location as far as city or state or country is not disclosed.  This seems to more easily allow the readers to put themselves in the speaker’s shoes, to sense what she is experiencing on this summer evening.

This poem initially was comforting and seemed to almost lure the readers into a dreamlike, mystical state with its gentle words and the beautiful, soft pictures that it painted in one’s mind.  However, the poem subsequently took on a rather dark, sinister feeling as the night and its inhabitants (including the wind and the dark woods) seemed to be trying to seduce the speaker and to lure her into the blackness and what may lie beyond.   The speaker’s imagination gets carried away with the bewitching night.  Perhaps she is lonely and a bit depressed, and her inner fears surface on this dark night.  It’s such a situation where one hears and sees things that aren’t truly there, and reality and fantasy become confused.  The speaker fights back against these images in her mind and to pull herself out of this dark place.

            Personification plays a part in this poem as the wind speaks and seduces.   There are four-line stanzas with the second and fourth line rhyming.  The words are very descriptive.  The poem has a nice flow and is very effective at inviting the readers to experience the situation with the speaker.