9When one has lived a long time alone,
and the hermit thrush calls and there is an answer,
and the bullfrog head half out of water utters
the cantillations he sang in his first spring,
and the snake lowers himself over the threshold
and creeps away among the stones, one sees
they all live to mate with their kind, and one knows,
after a long time of solitude, after the many steps taken
away from one's kind, toward these other kingdoms,
the hard prayer inside one's own singing
is to come back, if one can, to one's own,
a world almost lost, in the exile that deepens,
when one has lived a long time alone.
Friday, March 4, 2011
"9," by Galway Kinnell
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I feel that the animals in this poem are significant due to their popularity. Typicallly we are afraid or grossed out by frogs, snakes, and hermits, but in this poem, that factor is what makes them isolated. But why do they all seem to leave in the poem? Discomfort, hatred of others?
ReplyDeleteThis poem shows that one can only stand being isolated for so long time. Eventually the animals become to lonely and seek out other kingdoms for comfort. I also think that the animals can represent humans. A human could get bored of the same daily routine and must "seek out new kingdoms."
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