I read this poem and from the surface of the words I get that there is a huge urge to get married. The author see's marriage as a huge thing, or better yet a huge step to take. She see's that Marriage can be great and it will bring great joy to her life once see steps foot into that part of her life. For some reason though she is unable to get married to the person she wants to be with. This is seen in the line "We look for communion and are turned away." Well that's part of what I see from the words and I was wondering if anyone who has read the poem see's something else? Also I was wondering if anyone understood why in the first stanza she uses body parts like thighs, tounge, and teeth? I see it as a verbal and physical part of a marriage which can be another definition for communion but I am unsure.
Hey Oliver! Reading this poem I felt like Levertov might be talking about the challenge of being in a marriage, rather than the longing to get married. If you think of how she describes the thigh and tongue (heavy with the ache of marriage), I think it could mean that it's hard to move and speak. If your thighs are heavy and your tongue is heavy, it's gotta be hard to do those things. But it seems more like the challenge of the relationship making it difficult to communicate or to make changes. As far as tongue and teeth..perhaps "communion" could have multiple meanings. The first, coming together with the marriage partner; the second, communion as in catholic religious rituals. I can't be sure of any of this obviously, but what do you think?
ReplyDeleteI actually agree with a lot he is saying in this poem. It is a huge urge to get married and huge step, which a lot of people could relate because that is a huge step to be committed to that one person for the rest of your life. Seem like it is a arranged marriage and maybe even a religious factor in this poem. Those are the things i wonder because she know that the marriage would make her happy but just not to who she really want to with with. I feel she used that in the first stanza as a attention grabber , so you can know her real feelings on marriage. What are you guys thoughts on it ?
ReplyDelete