Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Going out on a limb with "The Bridge"
I am kind of nervous to voice my thoughts on this poem because I think I may be radically off base. Not with my opinion of it which is, that it is a melancholy story that tells so much but leaves you feeling lonely. At the same time it reminded a little of The Things They Carried in that it had little contradictions throughout the whole thing. It starts with "These fulsome nouns, these abbreviations of air/Are not real, but two of them may fit a small man" then later "the false name of a real man" and finally "Many times I have thought everything I have said/ Or thought was a lie, moving some blame or credit". It is this last line that makes me think that this may be the speakers story if it is true at all. It was the speaker who was jumped into the water to save four people but only ended up saving three. Perhaps he gives themself an alias, attributes the story to someone else behind because the truth is too much. This is speculation of course but that is the impression that I got.
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Jillian,
ReplyDeleteI’m proud you decided to go out on a limb. I think it’s a theme for all of us this week.I must admit I do think you decided to write on a harder piece. Maybe it was the length, but the poem seemed to have complicated twist and turns, at least for me. I have to agree with you that there was a "The Things They Carried" feel to it. For me it was how we lose ourselves and how we find out what is most important, the things that keep us a float. And how we think we might know someone or ourselves and than suddenly a certain event will show us who they truly are. I like when you said, “Perhaps he gives themselves an alias attributes the story to someone else behind, because the truth is too much.” That gave me a different glance at the poem, which I think I needed.
I love that all the novels and now all the poetry we have read all fits together. We are going to be comparing the rest of the literature we read to all these novels. I think it is great that you are able to compare and go out on a limb. That is why literature and poetry are so amazing we are never wrong. It is all open to our own interpretation. We are able to go out on a limb no matter the piece. Literature always has the ability to be personal and I think this is what you have done.
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