The Abortion

The Abortion – Anne Sexton - Pg 401

Somebody who should have been born
is gone.

Just as the earth puckered its mouth,
each bud puffing out from its knot,
I changed my shoes, and then drove south.

Up past the Blue Mountains, where
Pennsylvania humps on endlessly,
wearing, like a crayoned cat, its green hair,

its roads sunken in like a gray washboard;
where, in truth, the ground cracks evilly,
a dark socket from which the coal has poured,

Somebody who should have been born
is gone.

the grass as bristly and stout as chives,
and me wondering when the ground would break,
and me wondering how anything fragile survives;

up in Pennsylvania, I met a little man,
not Rumpelstiltskin, at all, at all...
he took the fullness that love began.

Returning north, even the sky grew thin
like a high window looking nowhere.
The road was as flat as a sheet of tin.

Somebody who should have been born
is gone.

Yes, woman, such logic will lead
to loss without death. Or say what you meant,
you coward... this baby that I bleed.

                This poem is obviously about abortion.  The poet is expressing her pro-life stance.  She states, almost directly, that aborted child was supposed to live; the aborted child was meant to be alive.  The last line (“this baby that I bleed”) expresses the idea that the abortion of each child is a loss to society, not only a loss to the mother.  That baby could have touched multiple people’s lives, but because that baby is no longer alive, the baby can no longer touch anyone’s life.

                Though the narrator’s opinions and my opinions are similar, the topic is still a very touchy and sensitive.   I have trouble reading about this topic.  The deep, sensitive topic was simplified into emotionless speech.  I understand why this was done, and I do view it as effective understatement. Regardless, it is difficult to read. 

                Repetition, particularly of “Somebody who should have been born/is gone”, adds to the meaning of the poem as a whole.  The repetition causes that sentence to stand out and make become memorable.  The understatement of the needless murders adds to the affect of the poem.  The use of italics makes obvious the importance of the statement and draws attention to the phrase. 

                Another literary technique used in this poem is allusion.  The poet alludes to Rumpelstiltskin.  The fairytale of “Rumpelstiltskin” objectifies children.  Children are offered as payment, used as bets, and thus seen as possessions or objects. In any abortion, the child isn’t viewed at as a human being.  Their deaths aren’t viewed as murders, but they are abortions, a crime that’s not even seen as a crime and had no criminal charge. 

Delta

Delta – Adrienne Rich – Page 391

If you have taken this rubble for my past
raking through it for fragments you could sell
know that I long ago moved on
deeper into the heard of the matter

If you think you can grasp me, think again:
my story flows in more than one direction
a delta springing from the riverbed
with its five fingers spread

Personal Interpretation:

                The poem “Delta” by Adrienne Rich is about moving on, moving forward, and how no person should have to face on-going judgments or ridicule for past mistakes.  The narrator also explains that she has depth.  There is more to her than what another person would be able to understand simply be observing her past.  The narrator uses herself as an example of a person who has made some petty mistakes in her past.  However, they do not define her and should not be looked upon as defining moments.  This is expressed through the connotation of particular words and the structure, particularly the symbolism in the rhyme scheme.

Literary Devices and Techniques: (Connotation and end rhyme)

                Rich’s choice of words such as “rubble”, “fragments”, and “flow” were not accidental, nor coincidental. 

The word “rubble” was used because it gives off a feeling of pettiness.  Had the narrator chosen to describe the moments from the past as garbage or disgusting moments, the past events would sound more drastic, severe, and negative than simple, petty rubbish.  With this word choice, the narrator was able to convey the idea that the past mistakes aren’t important; they’re petty.  They’re unimportant details.

The word “fragments” was used because they were only pieces in her life; they were not her life in its entirety.  That being one of the main reasons she did not want to be judged by her past. 

The word “flow” was used because her story continues on, not stopping.  A river flows, and a river will not stop because it is misunderstood and judged.  The narrator’s story flows, but being misunderstood and judged will not stop her.

               

Another literary technique that adds to both the meaning and experience of the poem is the end rhyme in this poem.  Additionally, the structure of this poem is symbolic of the narrator.  The first 6 lines don’t rhyme.  However, the last two do rhyme.  Her past did not flow without complications.  She did make mistakes.  Nonetheless, now her life (as she states, her story) flows.  The end rhyme also adds to the closure of the poem. 

Experience:

                This poem was short, simple, and abrupt, yet undeniably memorable and affective.  Moreover, it was relatable.  Every human being has made mistakes.  Everyone has regrets.  Sometimes, it seems easier to forget about the “rubble from my past”, but no one should.  The events are unavoidably there, but not defining.  My mind and spirit aren’t something that an outsider can grasp, even if they’ve seen my past, even if they’ve lived it with me.   Life keeps flowing in its many directions.