Margaret Atwood Poems - 1030 Words

Margaret Atwood’s collection of poems, Morning in the Burned House, could just as easily have employed morning’s homonym—mourning—in the title. The overriding theme of loss and some of its sources and consequences—aging, grief, death, depression, and anger—permeate this collection and, in particular, Section IV which is a series of elegiac poems about Atwood’s father. The collection is divided into five sections. Section I opens with the poem â€Å"You Come Back.† This poem seems to look back on a life lived in a blur in which much was missed, as evidenced by the lines: You come back into the room†¨where you’ve been living†¨all along. You say:†¨What’s been going on†¨while I was away?. . .†¨. . .You know it was you†¨who slept, who ate here, though†¦show more content†¦The tone of these sections only softens (and just a bit, at that) in the last poem of Section III, â€Å"A Pink Hotel in California.† This poem leads us into Section IV and a series of elegiac poems about Atwood’s/the speaker’s father. Throughout Section IV, the speaker deals with her feelings of loss: her father’s slipping away into old age and Alzheimer’s and his eventual death. The final poem in Section IV â€Å"The Ottawa River by Night,† segues smoothly into Section V. â€Å"The Ottawa River by Night† begins hinting at the speaker’s sense of mortality, and Section V continues to explore and strengthen that sense. The collection ends with â€Å"Morning in the Burned House,† in which the speaker mourns a life that has slipped by, sometimes barely noticed, and nearing its end: I can’t see my own arms and legs†¨or know if this is a trap or blessing,†¨finding myself back here, where everything†¨in this house has long been over,†¨kettle and mirror, spoon and bowl,†¨including my own body,†¨including the body I had then,†¨including the body I have now†¨as I sit at this morning table, alone and happy, . . . In this way, Atwood circles back to the beginning of the volume and â€Å"You Come Back,† lamenting the tunnel vision we as humans can have while living our lives and mourning the loss of opportunities for awareness, connection, and something more. If the entire collection of 45 poemsShow MoreRelatedMargaret Atwood The Landlady Poem808 Words   |  4 PagesMargaret Atwood’s poem â€Å"The Landlady† is an illustration of isolation on the mind when facing a mental illness. A mental illness, such as depression or anxiety, controls the person from within taking over their lives, just like the Landlady is said to do. The poem represents depression through the characterization of the landlady as being loud, controlling and isolated from freedom. Depression takes over one’s life like the landlady has over her tenants. The poem begins with â€Å"this is the lair ofRead MoreThe Life and Achievements of Margaret Eleanor Atwood Essay1687 Words   |  7 PagesMargaret Eleanor Atwood, one of the most acclaimed and idolized writers’ to date. Atwood was born in Ottawa, Ontario, on November 18th, 1939 in the Ottawa General Hospital. Two and a half months after the beginning of the Second World War (Atwood). She is a renowned novelist and poet; furthermore writer of short stories, critical studies, screenplays, radio scripts and books for children (Gale). Margaret Atwood is a living inspiration to many writers today. 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However she interweaves a bleak image of our future within this straightforward story. It starts of with Atwood describing her daughter eating sausages. She uses the words barbarismRead MoreMargaret Atwood : A Social Activist1225 Words   |  5 PagesMargaret Atwood: a Social Activist Through Feminist Literature The 1980s signified the continuation of an era of social and political upheaval in the United States of America. At the forefront was a socially conservative agenda that aimed to rescind women’s rights only ratified less than a decade before, a marked display of the nation’s desire to uphold traditional values that defined the preceding generation (Franà §oise). Among the devastating political climate, however, was Margaret Atwood: