Within my house of patterned horn
I sleep in such a bed
As men may keep before they're born
And after when they're dead.
Sticks and stones may break their bones,
And words may make them bleed;
There is not one of them who owns
An armour to his need.
Tougher than hide or lozenged bark,
Snow-storm and thunder proof,
And quick with sun, and thick with dark,
Is this my darling roof.
Men's troubled dreams of death and birth
Puls mother-o'-pearl to black;
I bear the rainbow bubble Earth
Square on my scornful back.
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Comments
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I really dig this poem. The Iroquois believed that that the earth was built on the back of a tortoise, so that last stanza is reminscent of that mythic creation. The first stanza captivated me in its image of how we are enclosed in the safe shell of the womb before birth, as well as the shell of the coffin or perhaps the earth itself after death, but that in between, we are only in our vulnerable skin -- unlike the lucky tortoise. The lozenged bark is a beautiful and accurate description.
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What is the meaning of this poem?
What is the author refering to in phrase 1? patterned horn?
Darling roof? men
s troubled dreams of death and birth? -
The second verse I feel is perfect all on its own, even with the 'sticks & stones' reference. It just works so well.
I'd compare Wylie to Plath but Wylie was born before Plath and died I believe a few years before Plath was even born, yet they both hold a 'solemn' feel of depressiveness in their works, and I feel this is of no exception.
It seems to be somewhat of a birthe of sorts, but I don't feel it's literal, and if it is, perhaps the birth was either aborted and/or the baby didn't survive and thus that's the reference to the first verse.
Or it could not be, the metaphor could be quite different. But no doubt that this is a very sad and depressing piece, it has all the tones of it, in my opinion such as 'Puls mother-o'-pearl to black' that is dark to me.
This piece, to me, is a thinker and I like the poems that can evoke me to think.
A good piece that Wylie has written here.
Edited on Feb 11, 9:30 p.m. because ''.
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