Poems from American Literature

1) Walt Whitman's Out of the Cradle

Endlessly Rocking
Publication:
Originally titled “A Child’s Reminiscence”,
the poem was first published in the
Saturday Press on December 24, 1859
Author Note:
Walter Whitman Jr. ( May 31, 1819 –
March 26, 1892) was an American poet,
essayist, and journalist. Considered one of
the most influential poets in American
literature ,Whitman incorporated both
transcendentalism and realism in his
writings and is often called the father of free
verse.[1] His work was controversial in his
time, particularly his 1855 poetry
collection Leaves of Grass, which was
described by some as obscene for its overt
sensuality.

Summary and Analysis:

This poem was written in 1859 and
incorporated into the 1860 edition of Leaves
of Grass. It describes a young boy’s
awakening as a poet, mentored by nature and
his own maturing consciousness. The poem is
loose in its form, except for the sections that
purport to be a transcript of the bird’s call,
which are musical in their repetition of words
and phrases. The opening of the poem is
marked by an abundance of repeated
prepositions describing movement—out, over,
down, up, from—which appear regularly later
in the poem and which convey the sense of a
struggle, in this case the poet’s struggle to
come to consciousness.
Unlike most of Whitman’s poems, “Out of the
Cradle” has a fairly distinct plot line. A young
boy watches a pair of birds nesting on the
beach near his home, and marvels at their
relationship to one another. One day the
female bird fails to return. The male stays
near the nest, calling for his lost mate. The
male’s cries touch something in the boy, and
he seems to be able to translate what the bird
is saying. Brought to tears by the bird’s
pathos, he asks nature to give him the one
word “superior to all.” In the rustle of the
ocean at his feet, he discerns the word
“death,” which continues, along with the
bird’s song, to have a presence in his poetry.

Thus although “Out of the Cradle” can be

described as a poem about the birth of the
poet, it can also be read as a poem about the
death of the self. In the end, on the larger
scale, these two phenomena are one and the
same.

The poem features a young boy walking on

the beach who finds two mockingbirds
nesting and watches them. The female bird
fails to appear one day, and the male bird
cries out for her. The bird’s cries create an
awakening in the boy who translates what
the male is saying in the rest of the poem.
As this happens, the boy recognizes the
impact of nature on the human soul and his
own burgeoning consciousness.

“Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking” is one

of Walt Whitman's most complex and
successfully integrated poems. Whitman
used several new techniques in the poem.
One is the use of images like bird, boy, sea.
The influence of music is also seen in opera
form. Some critics have taken the poem to
be an elegy mourning the death of someone
dear to him. The basic theme of the poem is
the relationship between suffering and art. It
shows how a boy matures into a poet
through his experience of love and death.
Art is a sublimation of frustrations and death
is a release from the stress and strains
caused by such frustrations.

2) Emily Dickinson’s “The Soul selects

her own society “
Publication:
Emily Dickinson’s “The Soul selects her own
Society” was first published posthumously in
1890, long after Dickinson wrote the poem
in 1862.
Author Note:
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10,
1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American
poet. Dickinson was born in Amherst,
Massachusetts, into a prominent family with
strong ties to its community. After studying
at the Amherst Academy for seven years in
her youth, she briefly attended the Mount
Holyoke Female Seminary before returning
to her family’s home in Amherst. Evidence
suggests that Dickinson lived much of her
life in isolation. Considered an eccentric by
locals, she developed a penchant for white
clothing and was known for her reluctance
to greet guests or, later in life, even to leave
her bedroom. Dickinson never married, and
most of her friendships were based entirely
upon correspondence.

Themes:
Self Reliance and Individuality

Summary and analysis:

In this poem, the speaker celebrates the
virtues of an independent and mostly
solitary life. The speaker envisions her soul
as a queenly figure who chooses her
company carefully, without regard for
worldly status or prestige. The poem’s
innovative use of slant rhyme and meter
sets it apart from contemporary poetic
standards; like the soul it describes, this
poem obeys only its own rules.

In “The Soul selects her own Society,” a

speaker justifies her decision to lead a
mostly solitary life. The speaker argues that
the soul (functioning here as a kind of stand
in for the speaker herself) naturally rejects
the outside world in favor of her own inner
circle. In doing so, the speaker champions
individuality and self-reliance in a society
that often values neither of these qualities

She starts by claiming that the “Soul

selects her own Society”—in other words,
that the soul chooses its own companions.
These companions could be actual people or
a metaphor for the speaker’s thoughts. In
either case, the soul then “shuts the Door”
in the face of “her divine Majority,” closing
herself off from anyone not in this inner
circle, no matter how “divine.” By casting
out the majority of people and ideas, no
matter how important they might seem, the
speaker chooses a life of relative solitude.

This speaker can’t be swayed from her

resolve by any worldly power. She
comments that the soul is “Unmoved” . The
fact this speaker wouldn’t even let a
powerful emperor in shows that she’s truly
indifferent to prestige. The people and
thoughts that make it through the soul’s
gate are granted access based on the soul’s
own criteria, not the values of society at
large.
All this doesn’t mean that the speaker is
totally alone, however. She says at the
poem’s end that she will “Choose One”
companion from “an ample nation” before
closing the “Valves of her attention.” This
“One” might be a lover or a close friend;
what’s clear is that the speaker is very
choosy about who that person will be.

On a metaphorical level, the act of choosing

one from “an ample nation” could also be an
image of the creative process. The soul
might be just as idiosyncratically selective
about the ideas that catch her fancy as the
people. In either reading, the speaker
demonstrates her strong sense of
independence and her ability to thrive
according to her own rules.

Overall, then, the speaker celebrates the

capacity for self-reliance in a society that
often values more public virtues like status,
wealth, and power. “Unmoved” by these
values, the speaker is free to embrace the
strength and pleasure of her own tastes and
preferences.

Of course, there might be a downside to all

this self-reliance. Some readers might take
the fact that the speaker closes herself off
“Like Stone” to mean that she’s a little too
rigid and unyielding in her refusal to engage
with the outside world. Then again, maybe
she’s simply secure in her convictions. And
by describing the soul as a separate being
from herself, perhaps the speaker shields
herself from seeming a little too much “Like
Stone” to the uncomprehending world. This,
she seems to say, is just the way the soul
behaves; don’t look at me.

Line by line summary:

The soul chooses her own company, then
closes the door on everyone else. She’s no
longer available to most of the world.
She’s not swayed by elegant carriages
waiting outside her humble gate, and she
wouldn’t be swayed even if a powerful king
knelt down on her doormat to beg for her
company.

I’ve known her to choose one single person

out of a whole country’s worth, and then
shut down her notice of anyone else, firmly
as a stone.

3) Robert Frost's After Apple Picking:

Publication:
“After Apple-Picking” is a poem by American
poet Robert Frost. It was published in 1914
in North of Boston, Frost’s second poetry
collection. The poem is 42 lines in length,
does not strictly follow a particular form
(instead consisting of mixed iambs), nor
does it follow a standard rhyme scheme.
Author note:
Robert Lee Frost (March 26, 1874 –
January 29, 1963) was an American poet.
Born in San Francisco, He died in Boston,
Massachusetts. His work was initially
published in England before it was published
in the United States. Known for his realistic
depictions of rural life and his command of
American colloquial speech .Frost frequently
wrote about settings from rural life in New
England in the early 20th century, using
them to examine complex social and
philosophical themes

Frost is the only poet to receive four Pulitzer

Prizes for Poetry. He became one of
America’s rare “public literary figures,
almost an artistic institution”. He was
awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in
1960 for his poetic works. On July 22, 1961,
Frost was named poet laureate of Vermont.
Themes:
The Cycle of life and death
Creativity and Dissatisfaction
Worry, Work and Sleep

Summary and Analysis:

“After Apple-Picking” is a poem by
Robert Frost. Rural New England is a
common setting for many of Frost’s early
poems, and this one is no exception. The
poem is set after the speaker has finished
a seemingly ordinary day of apple picking,
and is now halfway to sleep and dreaming.
While many of Frost’s poems use strict
iambic pentameter and a formal rhyme
scheme, “After Apple-Picking” defies such
regular rhythm and rhyme as it mimics the
often disorienting process of falling asleep.
The poem was included in North of Boston,
Frost’s second poetry collection. Published
in 1914, North of Boston was widely
 praised and advanced Frost’s reputation
as a major voice in American poetry.

After a long day’s work, the speaker is tired of

apple picking. He has felt drowsy and dreamy
since the morning when he looked through a
sheet of ice lifted from the surface of a water
trough. Now he feels tired, feels sleep coming
on, but wonders whether it is a normal, end-
of-the-day sleep or something deeper.

The poem describes a pastoral scene of

New England life in autumn. The narrator
is recalling their day spent picking apples
on a ladder. Throughout the poem, the
narrator expresses a desire for rest, using
phrases such as “I am drowsing off" and "I
am overtired"

They reflect on their mortality, and whether

they will ever again wake up and have the
opportunity to pick apples. The poem
concludes with the narrator ostensibly falling
asleep.

Seen in lines:
One can see what will trouble

This sleep of mine, whatever sleep it is.

Were he not gone,

The woodchuck could say whether it’s like his

Long sleep, as I describe its coming on,

Or just some human sleep.

— Robert Frost, After Apple-Picking, Lines 37-

42
 The poem’s first line is in iambic
hexameter, the second is in iambic
dimeter, and in the third line shifts to
iambic pentameter. The majority of
the lines continue in iambic
pentameter. In lines 13-17, the meter
alternates between iambic
pentameter and dimeter. The
remainder of the poem is composed
of variations on the iambic meter,
containing iambic pentameter,
trimeter, dimeter, and monometer.

The rhyme scheme of the poem is

inconsistent beyond the first few
lines. Lines 1-4 follow an ABBA rhyme
pattern, lines 5-6 follow CC, and lines
7-9 follow DED. After this, however,
there is no standard pattern, with
lines instead rhyming sporadically.
Scholarly interpretation of the poem often
focuses on themes of sleep, dreaming, and
the somber conclusion to the piece, in which
the narrator wonders if their oncoming sleep
is a normal slumber, or a “long sleep.”The
varying meter of the poem is thought to be
indicative of the narrator’s fitful state of mind
as they drift off to [Link] rhyme scheme of
the poem is similarly scattered, lending itself
to a similar interpretation.

The process of picking apples is symbolic

through both the action itself and the
apparatus used. The apple-picking ladder is
a symbol, both metaphorical and real, that
points to a destination beyond itself, while
the act of picking apples is a metaphor for
the power of labor. The power of labor is its
ability to go beyond natural occurrences
such as the shifting of seasons, or bodily
exhaustion.

4) E. E. Cummings's Cambridge ladies

Publication:
"The Cambridge ladies who live in furnished
souls" is a short satirical poem by E.E.
Cummings, first published in 1923.
Author Note:
Edward Estlin Cummings, who was
mainly known as e e cummings and also E.
E. Cummings, (October 14, 1894 –
September 3, 1962), was an American poet,
painter, essayist, author, and playwright.
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was
an ambulance driver during World War I and
was in an internment camp, which provided
the basis for his novel The Enormous
Room (1922). The following year he
published his first collection of poetry, Tulips
and Chimneys, which showed his early
experiments with grammar and typography.
He wrote four plays; HIM (1927) and Santa
Claus: A Morality (1946) were most
successful. He wrote EIMI (1933), a
travelogue of the Soviet Union, and
delivered the Charles Eliot Norton
Lectures in poetry, published as i—six
nonlectures (1953). Fairy Tales (1965), a
collection of short stories, was published
posthumously.

Themes:
“Cambridge Ladies” by E.E. Cummings is a
satirical poem that critiques the societal
norms and expectations placed on women,
particularly those in academia. Some of the
themes include:

1. **Conformity vs. Nonconformity**: The

poem contrasts the conservative,
conformist behavior of the Cambridge
ladies with the unconventional, free-
spirited nature of the poet. It highlights
the tension between conforming to
societal expectations and embracing
individuality.
2. **Intellectualism and Stereotypes**:
Cummings challenges the stereotype of
intellectual women as rigid, humorless,
and overly serious. He portrays the
Cambridge ladies as pretentious and out
of touch, contrasting them with the
vitality and spontaneity of life.

3. **Gender Roles and Expectations**: The

poem examines the societal roles
assigned to women and the limitations
placed on their behavior. The Cambridge
ladies are depicted as conforming to
traditional gender roles, while the poet
rejects these constraints and celebrates
freedom of expression.

4. **Satire and Irony**: Cummings employs

satire and irony to criticize the
Cambridge ladies’ superficiality and lack
of genuine depth. He mocks their
obsession with propriety and social
 status, suggesting that true fulfillment
comes from embracing individuality and
authenticity.

Overall, “Cambridge Ladies” is a critique of

societal norms and expectations,
particularly as they relate to gender and
intellectualism, while championing the value
of individual expression and freedom.

Summary:
Set in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a city
home to Harvard University and renowned
for its upper-crust society, this poem
critiques a specific group of residents within
this intellectual and affluent community.
Written in Cummings’ distinctive style—
characterized by unconventional
punctuation and spacing—the poem
employs wit and irony to convey its
message.
The speaker sets a satirical tone in the
poem’s opening lines by describing the
titular women as “unbeautiful” with
“comfortable minds.” Through this
juxtaposition, Cummings suggests a
disconnect between their outward
appearance and inner thoughts. By doing
so, he suggests they are superficial and
vapid, highlighting their conformist and
materialistic mindset. These lines serve as a
critical introduction to the central theme of
the poem and emphasize the poet’s satirical
perspective on the Cambridge ladies and
their way of life.

The speaker continues his critique by noting

that these women attend church to receive
its “protestant blessings” and believe they
are wholesome and righteous. These
blessings are then passed on to their
daughters, who are “unscented shapeless
spirited,” meaning they are just as dull and
unoriginal as their mothers.

Cummings continues his critique by

highlighting that the Cambridge ladies hold
steadfast beliefs in both Christ and
Longfellow, despite both being deceased.
This ironic comparison of religious and
literary figures suggests a clinging to
traditions that may no longer hold
contemporary relevance. The phrase
“invariably interested in so many things”
adds a touch of humor by portraying the
ladies as easily distracted or superficial in
their numerous pursuits. Cummings then
critiques the ladies’ seemingly unexamined
adherence to conventional beliefs and their
wide-ranging but perhaps shallow interests.

The speaker accuses the Cambridge ladies

of only having a fleeting interest in current
events. The phrase “at the present writing
one still finds” suggests a temporary
engagement with the world around them.
The imagery of “delighted fingers knitting
for the is it Poles?” implies that their support
for a cause may be superficial or
momentary. Cummings uses “perhaps” to
further emphasize the uncertainty or lack of
genuine commitment.

Meanwhile, the ladies’ “permanent faces

coyly bandy scandal of Mrs. N and Professor
D” suggest a tendency towards gossip and
idle chatter rather than a sincere
engagement with substantive issues. The
speaker implies that their interests are
transitory, easily shifting with the changing
currents of public opinion. This reinforces
the satire on the ladies’ lack of deep,
enduring convictions.

In the concluding lines, the speaker asserts

that the Cambridge ladies are indifferent to
events beyond the confines of Cambridge
itself. The phrase “the Cambridge ladies do
not care, above” suggests a limited concern
for matters beyond their immediate
surroundings. The poet then introduces a
vivid metaphor, describing the moon as
rattling “like a fragment of angry candy”
within its “box of sky lavender and
cornerless.” This imaginative portrayal adds
a surreal and whimsical touch, possibly
suggesting that even nature’s disruptions
fail to capture the attention or evoke a
reaction from these seemingly detached and
uninterested women. The lines reinforce the
theme of the ladies’ insular focus and
indifference to broader concerns.

Analysis:
E.E. Cummings’ poem “the Cambridge
ladies who live in furnished souls” offers a
satirical exploration of cultural norms and
the lives of a particular group of people
within the upper crust of Cambridge during
the early twentieth century.
As is typical for Cummings, the poet
employs distinctive literary devices, such as
unconventional punctuation and spacing.
This stylistic choice emphasizes his
rebellious spirit against traditional
conventions and mirrors the critique
embedded in the verses. He also uses
unique word combinations, such as “sky
lavender and cornerless.” The unique
pairing of words disrupts traditional
expectations to create a vivid and surreal
image. The absence of punctuation between
“sky lavender” and “cornerless” invites the
audience to navigate the linguistic space
actively, challenging them to visualize a
moon confined within a box that lacks
corners.

This distinctive use of language not only

adds to the poem’s unique style but also
serves as a metaphorical expression of the
Cambridge ladies’ confined and perhaps
limited perspectives. Cummings’ deliberate
departure from conventional syntax and
imagery becomes a potent means of
conveying his rebellious spirit and nuanced
critique within the verses.

“The Cambridge ladies who live in furnished

souls,” with its 14 lines, shares a structural
resemblance to a sonnet, albeit intentionally
departing from traditional sonnet
conventions. Unlike the standard sonnet’s
strict rhyme scheme and meter, Cummings’
poem embraces a free verse style and
discards the iambic pentameter commonly
associated with sonnets.

The irregular spacing, punctuation, and

varying line lengths in the poem defy
convection and further showcase
Cummings’ rebellious spirit. This stylistic
choice in itself serves as a juxtaposition to
the ladies whom the poem critiques,
highlighting the contrast between the rigid
cultural expectations imposed on them and
Cummings’ liberated approach to poetic
form. It also interrupts the seamless flow of
the words, causing the reader to more
closely examine the poem—a demand that
mirrors the poet’s desire that the subjects of
this poem stop what they are doing and
more closely examine their own lives.

This poem was written in the years following

World War I. The aftermath of the war
brought about social change and challenged
established values. Cummings’ satirical
commentary on the Cambridge ladies
reflects the broader societal shifts during
this period. The portrayal of women
conforming to traditional beliefs, as seen in
their unwavering religious faith and
admiration for Longfellow, may symbolize a
resistance to embracing more progressive
ideologies that emerged during the postwar
era. The poem thus becomes a snapshot of
the cultural tensions and resistance to
change characteristic of the time.
Cummings was not alone in his exploration
of conformity and rebellion during the inter-
war years. This was a time when writers of
the Modernist Movement, the Harlem
Renaissance, and the Lost Generation used
their pens to break down social conventions
and invent new literary styles. This put
Cummings in the company of other artists
who often sought to explore themes of
disillusionment, societal critique, and
individual expression.
The geographic focus on Cambridge is likely
intentional and holds symbolic significance.
Not only did Cummings live in Cambridge,
but this city is also home to prestigious
institutions such as Harvard University.
Longfellow, whom he disparages in the
poem, was also a Cambridge resident.
Therefore, Cambridge represents a long-
established hub of intellectual and academic
activity. The poet's choice to center the
critique within this specific locale suggests a
commentary on the potential pitfalls of
intellectual privilege and expectations
within such esteemed circles. Additionally,
Cambridge's historical and cultural context
allows Cummings to showcase a microcosm
of accepted norms and behaviors common
within intellectual and affluent communities
during his time.

5) Wallace Stevens's Anecdote of the

jar
Publication:
"Anecdote of the Jar" is a poem
from Wallace Stevens's first book of
poetry, Harmonium. Wallace Stevens is an
important figure in 20th century American
poetry. The poem was first published in
1919, it is in the public domain. Wallace
Stevens wrote the poem in 1918 when he
was in the town of Elizabethton, Tennessee.
Author Note:
Wallace Stevens (October 2, 1879 –
August 2, 1955) was an American modernist
poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania,
educated at Harvard and then New York Law
School, and spent most of his life working as
an executive for an insurance company in
Hartford, Connecticut. He won the Pulitzer
Prize for Poetry in 1955 for his Collected
Poems.

Full Text:
I placed a jar in Tennessee,
And round it was, upon a hill.
It made the slovenly wilderness
Surround that hill.

The wilderness rose up to it,

And sprawled around, no longer wild.
The jar was round upon the ground
And tall and of a port in air.
It took dominion everywhere.
The jar was gray and bare.
It did not give of bird or bush,
Like nothing else in Tennessee.

Themes:
Humanity vs Nature
Perspective and Meaning

Summary and Analysis:

Anecdote of the Jar” can be taken literally
but is best served figuratively. Others see in
it political issues. From a feminist viewpoint,
the jar represents the male ego placed
firmly in a female environment, Mother
Nature, causing mayhem and possible
destruction. Some think the jar is a symbol
of industrial imperialism, taking over the
environment and manipulating the
wilderness.

In the poem, an unnamed speaker places

a jar on a hill in Tennessee. As the natural
world continues to grow around the jar, the
speaker declares that the object becomes a
kind of king of the landscape, forcing the
surrounding wilderness to rise to meet it. An
ambiguous and enigmatic poem, "Anecdote
of the Jar" has been subject to a wide range
of interpretations in the decades since its
publication. As with much of Stevens's work,
it might be symbolic of any number of
things—from the perils of modern
industrialization to the nature of creativity
and perspective. And, of course, the poem
can also be taken at face value—as simply
being about a jar on a hill.
LBL Summary:
The speaker put a round jar on top of a hill
in Tennessee, where, the speaker says, the
jar caused the messy wilderness to grow all
around the hill.

That wilderness grew toward the jar,

sprawling all over the hill—yet now that
wilderness was tame and domesticated. The
round jar on the ground on top of the hill
was tall and empty.

The jar became king of everything. It was

gray and empty. The jar wasn’t part of
nature like the birds and plants nearby,
unlike everything else in the state.

6) Sylvia Plath's Lady Lazarus:

Publication:
“Lady Lazarus” is a poem written by Sylvia
Plath, originally included in Ariel, which was
published in 1965, two years after her death
by suicide. This poem is commonly used as
an example of her writing style. It is
considered one of Plath’s best poems and
has been subject to a plethora of literary
criticism since its publication. It is
commonly interpreted as an expression of
Plath’s suicidal attempts and thoughts.
Author Note:
Sylvia Plath (October 27, 1932 – February
11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist,
and short story writer Born in Boston,
Massachusetts ,She is credited with
advancing the genre of confessional poetry
and is best known for The Colossus and
Other Poems (1960), Ariel (1965), and The
Bell Jar, a semi-autobiographical novel
published shortly before her suicide in 1963.
She was married to another famous
American poet, Ted hughes at the time of
her death and their marriage life was highly
controversial. The Collected Poems was
published in 1981, which included
previously unpublished works. For this
collection Plath was awarded a Pulitzer Prize
in Poetry in 1982, making her the fourth to
receive this honour posthumously.

Themes:
Death and Suicide
Gender and Oppression
Objectification, Suffering and Art

Summary and Analysis:

“Lady Lazarus” is a confessional poem
written by Sylvia Plath in 1962. The poem is
“confessional” partly in the sense that the
poem reflects real-life bouts with mental
illness and suicidal ideation that Plath
herself experienced. But it’s also
confessional in terms of its style, which is
characterized by directness and naked
honesty. Though written in 1962, the poem
wasn’t published until after Plath’s death, in
the 1965 volume titled Ariel. Along with the
other poems in this collection, “Lady
Lazarus” helped secure Plath’s reputation as
a major American poet of the 20th century.

LBL Summary
The speaker declares that she’s done
something once again: every ten years,
she manages to kill herself and come
back to life.

This makes her a kind of living miracle.

Her skin is so pale when she returns from
the dead that it resembles a lampshade
the Nazis made from the skin of Jewish
Holocaust victims. Her right foot is as
heavy as a paperweight.

Her face is wrapped, mummy-like, in a fine

piece of Jewish cloth, obscuring her
features.

The speaker calls out to her enemy, telling

them to unwrap this cloth. She then asks if
she frightens them.
The speaker calls out to her enemy, telling
them to unwrap this cloth. She then asks if
she frightens them.

Are they scared of her skull-like face, with

its empty eye sockets and full rows of
teeth? Her breath is sour with the stench
of decay, but she says the smell will fade
by tomorrow.

Very soon, the skin that rotted off while

she was in her tomb will return to her
body, where it belongs.

Then she will look like a happy woman

once again. She’s just thirty years old, and
she has nine lives like a cat.

This is her third life. What a shame, she

says, to destroy each decade like this.
The speaker then describes her
resurrection as though it were a circus
performance. See the million flashing
bulbs, she says. People in the crowd,
crunching on peanuts, push their way in to
get a better view.

Her handlers peel the speaker’s burial

cloth from her body, like some kind of
strip-tease.

The speaker addresses the ladies and

gentlemen of the crowd, proudly pointing
to her resurrected body parts—her hands,
her knees.

Her body is still just skin and bone, but

she’s the exact same woman she was
before she died. She was ten years old the
first time she died. She hadn’t done it on
purpose.
The second time she died, it was
intentional. She’d wanted to stay dead,
too.
She sealed herself off from the world like a
seashell. People had to repeatedly call out
to her and then pick the worms off her
body, which clung to her like pearls.

Like everything else, dying is an art form,

a skill. And the speaker is extremely good
at it.

She dies in ways that feel terrible and real.

You could say that dying is her true calling.

It’s easy enough to die in a cell (i.e., in a

mental hospital or prison), the speaker
says. It’s easy enough to die and stay
dead.
What’s hard is the big, dramatic
resurrection in broad daylight—the return
to the exact same spot and the same face
staring at her and yelling in the same old
voice:

“It’s a miracle!” That’s what the speaker

really gets a kick out of.

If people want to look at her scars, they’ll

have to pay. The same goes if they want
to listen to her heart, which beats and
beats.

And they must pay a whole lot to hear her

speak or to touch her, or to buy some of
her blood, hair, or clothes.

The speaker addresses “Mr. Doctor” and

“Mr. Enemy” (presumably the men who
brought her back to life).
 The speaker says that she’s their greatest
achievement. She’s their most prized
possession.

She’s like a baby made out of pure gold

that, when dying, melts until there is
nothing but the sound of screaming. She
twists about and burns up. She assures
her listeners that she knows how much
they care about her.

She’s been burned up into ash, which they

prod at and stir around, looking for bits of
flesh or bone even though there’s nothing
of her left.

All that’s left behind is a bar of soap, a

wedding ring, or a gold tooth filling.
The speaker addresses “Mr. God” and “Mr.
Lucifer,” telling them to watch out for her.
 The speaker will rise from those ashes, her
hair red, and she will devour men like they
are nothing, like she’s simply breathing.

7) Adrienne Rich's Snapshots of a

daughter in law:

Publication:
1963

Author Note:
Adrienne Cecile Rich ( May 16, 1929 –
March 27, 2012) was an American poet,
essayist and feminist. She was called
“one of the most widely read and
influential poets of the second half of the
20th century” and was credited with
bringing “the oppression of women and
lesbians to the forefront of poetic
discourse”.
Her works span 19 volumes of poetry,
three collections of essays, and a
revolutionary study of motherhood; she
also edited influential lesbian-feminist
journals, worked in academia, and was a
lifelong activism.
She was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on
May 16, 1929,the elder of two sisters.
Her father, pathologist Arnold Rice Rich,
was the chairman of pathology at The
Johns Hopkins Medical School
Structure:
Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law (1963)
composes the title poem of the
eponymous collection. Written over the
course of two years (1958-60) the poem
is an important piece in Rich’s canon,
reflecting the transition in style she
underwent during these years. The
poem is divided into 10 sections; each is
composed in formal and carefully
controlled free verse. As the name
suggests, the piece presents
photographic descriptions of different
moments in the life of a “daughter-in-
law.” The daughter-in-law in question is
not an individual woman but a persona,
and references are made to other,
famous women personalities fulfilling
this role. The poem’s key message is
how the societal role of women
overshadows their individuality,
creativity, talent, and potential for
excellence.

Summary :
Relationships Between Women
“Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law” opens
with a narrator observing the mother-in-
law who is referred to as “she.” The
narrator notes that the mother-in-law
was once a popular and beautiful young
woman who has become a shallow and
vain woman of no real substance. The
mother-in-law is in the prime of her life
but wastes her prime by concerning
herself with gossip and unimportant
information. Her mind is “mouldering” or
sulking away and is “rich with suspicion,
rumor, fantasy.” The narrator is critical
of the older woman’s choices and what
she’s given up as she has aged.
Stanza 2 focuses on the daughter-in-law
who is referred to as “she.” The
daughter-in-law has been visited by
angels who urge her not to settle or give
up on her desires in life and tell her,
“save yourself; others cannot save you.”
The daughter-in-law has a rebellious
spirit and tests her limits by burning
herself with hot water or steam.

Stanzas 3 through 7 examine the

interaction and relationship between the
mother-in-law and daughter-in-law who
despise each other. The daughter-in-law
is disgusted that the mother-in-law has
given up so much of herself within her
marriage until she is unrecognizable.
Each woman recognizes a bit of herself
in the other person. Instead of using
these commonalities to form a bond,
each woman exploits this knowledge to
find weaknesses and cause pain in the
other. The women are tearing each other
apart instead of building an alliance
against the men who are their true
oppressors.

Describing the Daughter-in-Law

Stanzas 4 through 10 offer “snapshots”
of the daughter-in-law and show that the
daughter-in-law is guilty of losing some
of her own personality to her marriage.
She criticizes her mother-in-law for
losing herself, but the audience sees the
several ways the daughter-in-law had
already lost a bit of herself. They see her
shaving her legs or quieting her voice
around her male counterparts to be
pleasing rather than owning her own
body and intellect and using them for
her own benefit. The daughter-in-law is
unwittingly on the path to become what
her mother-in-law has become. The
daughter-in-law sacrifices her intellect so
that she is not called a “harpy, shrew, or
whore” and adjusts herself through the
lens of what she sees in “the reflections
of an eye” from her husband.

Self-Evaluation
In Stanza 9 the narrator stops referring
to the women as “you” and “she” and
starts using “we.” The narrator has been
examining herself through the lens of an
outside observer. She recognizes that
there are far more similarities between
her mother-in-law and herself and begins
to see the hypocrisy of her disdain for
her mother-in-law. She recognizes the
“martyred ambition” of her mother-in-
law is a problem for all women who try
to fit into society’s expectations. This
common experience and sacrifice should
unite women, not pit them against each
other. The poem closes with the narrator
thinking hopefully about future
generations of women. She says they
will need to be more critical of
themselves than previous generations to
find their faults, purge themselves of
conventional gender roles, and grow into
the powerful and beautiful creatures
they are meant to be.
Analysis
Mother in law
In "Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law," the
daughter-in-law observes her mother-in-
law's decline from beauty and intellect
to a vapid shell filled with meaningless
gossip, fearing that marriage will
diminish her own ambition and intellect.

Daughter-in-law
The narrator observes the daughter-in-
law in the kitchen, reflecting on her
apparent connection to angels imparting
messages of self-preservation and
independence. This narrative serves as a
caution against societal norms like
marriage and motherhood, urging the
daughter-in-law to maintain her
individuality. However, she risks losing
her sensitivity to the world amidst
societal pressures. Despite feeling
protected by the angels, her numbness
to pain suggests a deeper warning. The
daughter-in-law must remain vigilant
and heed the signals guiding her path.

Conflict
Stanzas 3 and 4 depict a conflict
between the mother-in-law and
daughter-in-law stemming from their
contrasting personalities and values. The
mother-in-law, burdened by societal
norms and domestication, clashes with
the daughter-in-law’s yearning for
meaningful experiences. Rich suggests
that this conflict is part of a cyclical
pattern where young women resent
older generations for conforming to
societal pressures, while older women
disdain the rebelliousness of youth.
Despite understanding each other well,
they exploit rather than support one
another, perpetuating the cycle of
conflict through generations.

Patriarchy
Stanzas 6 through 10 portray the
daughter-in-law's gradual conformity to
patriarchal expectations within her
marriage. Through snapshots of her life,
the poem highlights how she surrenders
her individuality to fit societal norms
imposed by men. From grooming habits
to self-image, she moulds herself
according to male expectations, defining
her worth through their gaze. Fearful of
being labelled negatively, she conceals
her intellect to avoid challenging male
authority, realizing that deviating from
societal norms will lead to ostracism.
The poem underscores the suffocating
influence of patriarchy, illustrating how it
erodes women's autonomy and
perpetuates cycles of oppression.

Hope for future women

The poem concludes with the revelation
that the narrator is the daughter-in-law,
prompting readers to empathize with the
struggles of women under patriarchal
pressures. Rich urges women to unite in
solidarity and envision a future where
they break free from societal constraints.
Encouraging self-reflection, Rich
implores readers to embody the "future
woman" who defies patriarchal norms
and paves the way for a more liberated
existence.