Images this poem includes are-- diving underwater, the technical equiment required, as if it is a journey. The speaker describes a "wreck" to investigate. there is also the image of mermaids, specifically of a merman and a mermaid.
An image that I took note of was that of a diver, and all the technical equipment that a diving expedition requires. It is interesting that Rich includes these images, because this poem probably isn't meant to be read literally, about a diver going to look at a literal wreck. First she talks about having a camera, a knife-blade, the "body-armor of black rubber," flippers, and a mask. She contrasts the laborous task of her journey with the official diving team of Cousteau's; she said she has to go through the hard work of diving alone. She also mentions other maritime "equipment" such as rungs of a ladder. It is most curious, then, when among her equipment is mention of a "book of myths" more than a couple times. It is an ambiguous piece of "equipment" and thus, is highlighted as an important thrust of this poem's meaning.
The speaker says that the diving task is difficult, as she is diving into a dark, black abyss, yet this sea is "another story," another from the "myths" she has studied before. Because the book of myths is actually just a "question of power," she has to "learn alone" and find out for herself, to explore the wreck on her own, to see the "damage that was done/ and the treasures that prevail." The image of the "myth/story" vs. the "truth" comes up again when the speaker says that what she "came for" was "the wreck and not the story of the wreck/ the thing itself and not the myth." Then the poem concludes by revealing that she and the mermaids she has encountered, the "treasures" at the wreck, are names that do not appear on the book of myths.
The image of the book of myths leads me to interpret this poem as a commentary on whatever "myths" or histories are handed down to us, stories that we have not investigated ourselves but do not question at all. The speaker says that these stories are question of power, which I take to mean that the stories we were are mere reflections of who was in power when the stories were created. She challenges us to go dive into the wreck and discover the true stories ourselves, to see whose names and stories were not written on the book of myths.
An image that I took note of was that of a diver, and all the technical equipment that a diving expedition requires. It is interesting that Rich includes these images, because this poem probably isn't meant to be read literally, about a diver going to look at a literal wreck. First she talks about having a camera, a knife-blade, the "body-armor of black rubber," flippers, and a mask. She contrasts the laborous task of her journey with the official diving team of Cousteau's; she said she has to go through the hard work of diving alone. She also mentions other maritime "equipment" such as rungs of a ladder. It is most curious, then, when among her equipment is mention of a "book of myths" more than a couple times. It is an ambiguous piece of "equipment" and thus, is highlighted as an important thrust of this poem's meaning.
The speaker says that the diving task is difficult, as she is diving into a dark, black abyss, yet this sea is "another story," another from the "myths" she has studied before. Because the book of myths is actually just a "question of power," she has to "learn alone" and find out for herself, to explore the wreck on her own, to see the "damage that was done/ and the treasures that prevail." The image of the "myth/story" vs. the "truth" comes up again when the speaker says that what she "came for" was "the wreck and not the story of the wreck/ the thing itself and not the myth." Then the poem concludes by revealing that she and the mermaids she has encountered, the "treasures" at the wreck, are names that do not appear on the book of myths.
The image of the book of myths leads me to interpret this poem as a commentary on whatever "myths" or histories are handed down to us, stories that we have not investigated ourselves but do not question at all. The speaker says that these stories are question of power, which I take to mean that the stories we were are mere reflections of who was in power when the stories were created. She challenges us to go dive into the wreck and discover the true stories ourselves, to see whose names and stories were not written on the book of myths.
(Didn't know how to insert image, so here's the link)
No comments:
Post a Comment