In my English 112 course we are analyzing an Anne Sexton poem, "The Starry Night." It was inspired by Vincent Van Gogh's painting, "The Starry Night." Any incite on the poem would be helpful and appreciated. It goes as follows:
The town does not exist
exept where one black-haired tree slips
up like a drowned woman into the hot sky.
The town is silent. The night boils with eleven stars
Oh starry night! This is how
I want to die.
It moves. They are all alive.
Even the moon bulges in its orange irons
to push children, like a god, from its eye.
The old unseen serpent swallows up the stars.
Oh star night! this is how
I want to die:
into that rushing beast of the night,
sucked up by that great dragon, to split
from my life with no flag,
no belly,
no cry.
-Anne Sexton
Posts
no one goes to school...
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't mean we don't have brains
ReplyDeleteone thing i can see is that the poet has animated every object in the scene. She has given these objects human characteristics.there are two main themes in the words she uses.
ReplyDeleteDeath/Destruction:
drowned, slips, die, swallows, sucked up, dragon, beast, silent, not exist
Life/Movement:
hot, boils, moves, alive, bulges, push, rushing, life
I feel like the author is trying to put themself into the painting. They like that it's an imaginary town, flowing full of life. like Amanda said above, they bring life to everything in the painting, the "black haired tree" that's like a "Drowned woman." Even the movement that Van Gogh created with the sky, the author makes it a "serpent, swallowing the stars." Overall, it seems to have a morbid tone, since the word choices they use seem that way, like "drowning," "die" "beast," "boils."
ReplyDeleteI could be totally wrong but..hopefully it will give you some insight...