In another poem, "Hell," she writes about her sons death and insinuates his afterlife. She writes, "A murder of craven angels appeared"(8-9). This is the most interesting line in the poem. A "murder" is used to describe a group of crows, which are associated with scavengers, shamelessness, and death, but it is used to describe the angels which are generally associated with light, singing, and glorious afterlives. Mary Jo Bang expresses her contempt of any kind of death and the feeling that she didn't want her son to die, even if he went to heaven, the angels stole him away. This poem is my favorite so far of all her poems; it gives the freshest perspective on death. I've also noticed how almost all of her poems are memories of her child when he was young.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Elegy # 2
In her poem "Ode to History," Mary Jo bang uses repetition to show how giving up your memories to feel better would take away your best memories as well. She writes about lying in bed with her son and how close she felt to him. The title, "Ode to History" uses the word "history" that suggests the past and thus, her poem is written about her memories. She writes how she would love to rid herself of her painful memories, but she realizes she would lose everything she's learned. She writes, "I would know nothing/ of mothering. I would know nothing/ of death. I would know nothing/ of love"(4-7). She realizes that by giving up her painful memories, she would give up everything she had learned in her life. She would lose her motherly habits, and all that she loved. By the end of the poem, she feels like her whole life will have been darkened by his death.
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4 comments:
This book of poems that you are reading sounds very dark and and soulful yet uplifting in a way. plus im not surprised that all of her poems so far have been of her long dead son. After reading your blog post it really shows how poems can really reflect ones deepest feelings.
Mary Jo Bang seems to be deeply affected by what happened to her son. She is writing poems about him and she is using the poems as an outlet to express her feelings. These poems seem to be very dark and depressing. They talk about the pain she's has felt throughout her life.
I still can't believe you're reading this book of Poems. It would honestly make me weep to read about a mother losing her son. I do very much like the way you have set up your paragraphs; they resemble the outline of the poems we analyzed in class. I also like the way you broke down the title " Ode to History" and connected it to the actual meaning to the poem. You make the dark and depressing poem seem a little softer and sweeter. Great Job!
This poem sounds really interesting, I like the conflict of interests here. If she loses her bad memories, the good also go too. She's not sure if she wants to let go of everything or nothing. Later where it says the angels stole her son away, it sounds like a line from Annabel Lee by Edgar Allen Poe.
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