My current favorite poem.
My comments:
"Merwin makes a unique yet powerful statement on the power of self-motivation in his work Known Sound. He utilizes unique but effective techniques to convey this message, with his complete disregard to punctuation, creating a fluid, fast-paced tone that continues to gain inertia throughout, reaching a climax in the last words that are echoed in the title. Perhaps the best example of this expression is the precise turning point mid-poem that juxtaposes the sections of body and spirit, saying “and then all [of] that falls like a curtain,” making a transition from the woman’s commentary on the shell of a body to introducing something much more significant: that “the way whatever lived in [the body] goes on as itself.” At this precise moment, many changes can be noted. A stark increase in line length is made in the second half, reflecting the more fruitful, rich character of this “way”--the soul or personality inside the body that gives it life and movement. The confusing “before nor after neither moving nor still” list of opposites is quieted with the realization that the “way” has already taken a sure stance with “the feet themselves,” and “you know that sound”--a recognition that this drive within is something familiar, something a part of the person that only needs to be heeded. Such a tactic portrays the raw power that lies within a person, only waiting to be released, yet at times caged because of the body--or, in other words, the inhibitions and limitations created by society that can tear a personality down and keep one from reaching their ultimate potential. Not accidentally, the narrator begins the poem in the dark (“After I can no longer see her/she says”) as if to suggest giving light to an important idea never fully acknowledged. Truly, this search to reach one’s full potential should be enlightened."
I could explicate poetry all day.
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