Encounters With Darkness

An essay I wrote which describes a basic spectrum of man's reaction to negativity presented in life through the poems: "Still I Rise", "Come In" and my own poem "Drifting Upon Shore".

“For art to exist, for any sort of aesthetic activity to exist, a certain physiological precondition is indispensable: intoxication.”

 

-Friedrich Nietzsche

Encounters With Darkness

 

There are many different ways that one can react to bad things happening in his or her life. However on a basic spectrum there are three different reactions that can take place; using bad events to increase ones hope, using darkness to contemplate suicide but still remaining slightly hopeful and then lastly; giving up hope entirely. Poetry is often used as a means for writers to express the emotions that they feel throughout life. Robert Frost’s “Come in” and Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” are no exception as they each portray their author’s reaction to the darkness that they felt from events in their life. Angelou’s poem expresses much hope in her optimistic tone as she assesses readers that she will always rise above hard times. Frost lies on the middle of the spectrum as he assesses the benefits of suicide, but ends the poem with stating how he will not enter a state of depression. Lastly, comes my own poem “Drifting upon shore” which contrast strongly against “Still I rise” because of the hopeless mood and the dark imagery that is used to express the act of suicide. The poems when used together reflect the three basic ways in which mankind can respond to depression.

            Maya Angelou rose into the literary icon she is today from a dreadful past. At age eight Angelou was raped by her mother’s boyfriend, who was released from prison after serving one day, only to be beaten to death for the crime he had committed. Despite having undergone sexual assault from the man, Angelou felt guilt from his death and worried that she was the cause of his murder. She was afraid to speak for nearly five years after the incident. Then, upon finishing school, Angelou gave birth to her son and became a single mother with no higher level of education and no training towards a career. The writer confessed to having to resort to prostitution at times to make ends meet. In 1960 Angelou heard Martin Luther King Jr. speak for the first time, which lead her on to become a passionate activist for the civil rights movement. While she saw much success in her writing career in her later years, she was subject to much struggle in the beginning stages of her life. “Still I Rise” reflects inner and external struggle, as she was a single African American mother who was put down for her past and for her race.

            The opening stanza in “Still I Rise” portrays the theme of hope as Angelou states “You may trod me in the very dirt. / But still, like dust, I’ll rise (3-4).” Here Angelou uses imagery to express that she will use darkness in her life to rise, or make herself stronger as she rises like dust from being thrown into dirt. She later goes on to emphasize on the intimidation that most feel from the strength that she shows. This same strength eventually made her a very successful woman and her gratitude for her hope is clearly apparent in the poem. Angelou makes a direct reference to her past in the lines “I rise. / Up from a past that’s rooted in pain (30-31).” While she ends that same stanza (the final stanza) with the line “I am the dream and hope of the slave (40).” By ending the poem with including these lines, Angelou is saying that despite the events of her past and the discrimination society feels towards the color of her skin, her hope and drive will lead her to become a successful person, which they eventually succeed in doing.

            Robert Frost suffered consistently throughout his life as well, however, in a very different way from Angelou as his life was filled with a long series of tragic family events. Frost’s father died of Tuberculosis in 1885 leaving his family with eight dollars. Later in his life, he experienced the death of his mother as well. However, prior to her death, she had shown signs of depression, a hereditary disorder that was passed along to Frost and his siblings. In 1938 Frost’s wife died from heart failure after having struggled with cancer. His misery did not end there, several of his children died shortly after childbirth and his son eventually committed suicide. Only two of Frosts children lived longer then he did. His depression due to these events and hereditary genes is quite apparent in “Come in” and further, one may see how he swayed in-between keeping hope and longing for a better future while the events of his past tried to pull him into a state of suicidal depression.

            “Come In” is a poem that uses extended metaphor and symbolism to express Frosts views on his battle with depression. In the first stanza Frost states-

“As I came to the edge of the woods,

Thrush music"hark!

Now if it was dusk outside,

Inside it was dark (1-4).”

 

“The edge of the woods” is often used as a metaphor for boundaries, or to highlight the contrast between what rests outside of woods, a known and safe world as opposed to what rests inside of the woods, darkness, uncertainty and mystery. Here, Frost writes that a thrush, a type of bird, is singing to him from inside of the woods. The mood of each setting is illustrated in the last two lines of the stanza as it is described as dusk outside, or in other words, there is very little light outside of the woods, but yet inside of the woods it is completely dark. Using a thrush as a symbol for freedom, Frost is saying that inside of the darkness of the woods there is some sort of freedom that can be found residing inside that he is listening to as the sun sets in the dim lit world outside of the woods.

            In the third stanza of the poem frost focuses on describing the change of weather outside of the forest as the sun is setting and the dusk is turning into night. The fading sunlight is lingering because it longs to hear one more song from the thrush. The setting of the sun can be seen as the setting of the light and happiness that Frost feels in his world outside of the darkness of the woods. However, he is stating that this happiness is lingering because he still wishes for freedom, or the bird’s song. This longing reflects that the beauty of the bird’s song comes from the song itself, not the setting of where the bird sings the song. Understanding this is key, because Frost is declaring that he does not wish for the darkness of the woods, rather he wishes for the freedom that comes from the woods. Clearly there can be freedom found in such a dark place and it is tempting as the happiness in his current setting is fading, while what he longs for can be found in a dark place.

            However, despite Frost reflecting on freedom found in the darkness of the woods, the last stanza creates an image of hope. The freedom that is illustrated in the Thrush’s song can be understood as freedom from the depression that Frost felt throughout his life. Freedom from this depression can be found in suicide, an act of darkness, but yet an act that would end his suffering. He seeks freedom from his pain, not freedom found in suicide, but rather in happiness. The last stanza of “Come In”-

“But No, I was out for stars;

I would not come in.

I meant not even if asked

And I hadn’t been (15-20).”

 

Is quite hopeful as it illuminates the poet’s hope despite his struggle. Frost says that he is “out for the stars,” the little light that illuminates the darkness of night. Not only is Frost out walking, an act of contemplating and reflection, but also the purpose of him doing so is to find light in his life and to appreciate it. By him stating in the next lines that he was not asked to come up he is revealing that this is all an internal struggle that is going on inside of his mind. Frost was trying to find something to be happy about in his personal life since it was smothered in such horrible events. He does not wish for suicide, rather he contemplates it because it would provide freedom from depression, however, he goes on to remind himself that he wishes to be happy and that’s what his contemplation and reflection is for. Frost was placed in the middle of the spectrum because of his pondering of the act of suicide as a means of escape, but by his overall thoughts are dominated with hope for the future.

            Lastly, “Drifting Upon Shore” represents the missing end of the spectrum; of giving up hope entirely and is written as the following-

“I sway like those weeds beneath the sea

That twist and tangle, sitting long and forgotten

In pits dead and deep, buried in the sand.

I dance in the dusk as I yearn for the sun,

That is rumored to be above this dreary darkness,

Which falls on me,

holding my roots into the ground with clenching fists,

shifting with my shadow.

I am left without the sound of sweet music,

And the sensation of scents that frolic so freely with the leaping wind.

The fish peck at my skin, chewing on my branches,

Their vibrant blush contrasts against the night,

That is stained upon these broken leafs as they wither from shade,

Breathing with madness, stuck in this state.

 

The internal currents of the sea slowly drift the sand off me and I am released,

 wiggling my feet to kick away from the cell that was that floor.

I arrived upon the ocean shore,

Drowning in the waves that refused to break away from me,

Like the guilt of a sin that consumes those in shame,

Burning at their flesh with fierce flames,

They cry my name,

They beg me to come back,

But my roots have been released from the swerving of the sea-

And even if I so wished, if I returned to the ocean I would only aimless drift

Subject to the tide, and I refuse to go back,

And rest in those murky waters that crawl in my soul,

And indulge in my pain that sets itself like a feast upon a table

Which was burnt and turned away.

 

When at last I crash upon the earth, the wetness of my skin

Picks up chunks of dirt that sporadically streak upon these leafs,

Which are bland and brown compared to all that is around me,

But yet I cannot ignore the glimmer of the soothing sun as it rains upon the ocean,

Tattooed in red vivid hues, shinning like blood on a tissue.

Oh! How warm it feels, as it’s wild rays caress me and release music from my soul

That chirps with the birds as they flutter around and beside me.

My pores open up to the light that is thrust down my throat-

Until I begin to choke upon the dryness

From the rays that paraded through my veins,

Sending sweet moans through my throat

After such dense darkness, which appears to have followed me,

And now silenced the song of my pleasure,

Which sets like the weather as the sun falls into the waves.

I attempt to roll back into the wet water that could quench my thirsty cries,

But time does not show sympathy, because the dryness grows upon me,

And my veins are drained from the straining of the burning sun

That lingers in the coming dusk.

Then the chirping of the birds stops as they near me in flocks

Of angry beasts, pecking at my leafs.

I think that I am dead until I hear the sun scorching my skin,

While the birds tear apart my limbs,

And my screams echo against the pounding of the wind

And I lay like litter decaying into the grave

On the sands of the shore that I had longed for earlier that day.”

 

            In this poem, the author is clearly reflecting her views on depression. By stating that she sways like the seaweed of which she write the poem on, the author is saying that the seaweed reflects how she herself feels about depression and how it effects ones emotions and state of mind. The seaweed is isolated from the world and rests in murky waters, which never see the sun. Further, the seaweed is picked at by the beautiful fish, which swim around it. The author uses the seaweeds setting to describe how depression can potentially cause one to feel. When one is depressed they feel isolated from the world around them and things that are beautiful in their life only eat away at them, much like the fish that eat away at the seaweed. However, though the seaweed rests upon a dreary ocean bottom, it longs for the sun that it has heard about. The seaweed itself has not experienced the sun, rather it has been told through rumor that the sun is the opposite of what it currently despises. The darkness of the setting holds the seaweed into the ground, foreshadowing its fate. This darkness is essential to understanding the author’s views on depression for two purposes: first it reveals depression to be an external force from the seaweed and secondly, it ceases to loosen its clenches on its victims.

            The author emphasizes depression being an external force that merges itself into one in the line “Shifting with my shadow” as the darkness has latched itself onto the seaweeds shadow, becoming a part of it.  Then, through the line “Wither from shade,” the author meant to say that depression slowly kills its victims. The seaweed goes on to kick away from the ocean shore when it has the chance to be released. However, as it reaches the sands of shore the ocean appears to not want to the seaweed to leave its waters. What the author meant by this is that when once has been consumed by depression, being forced into another state will only be worse for them. When one is depressed they cannot force themselves to be happy, rather they have to go through stages, often entering the deepest pits of sadness before they can feel happy. The seaweed dreamed of surviving on shore, however, this would be unnatural. Therefore what the seaweed expected to find upon its arrival to the shore was strongly different from that of which it encountered. This is highlighted in the last part of the poem as the author writes, “When at last I crash upon the earth, the wetness of my skin. / Picks up chunks of dirt that sporadically streak upon these leafs.” The seaweed’s wetness, which came with the darkness of the ocean of which it tried to escape, picks up filth and latches it onto the seaweed. The seaweed was wet (While the world outside of the shore was dry) and because of this is picking up filth (though it seeks beauty), while feelings of isolation are reflected in the singular word choice “leafs” though plural usage would be grammatically correct.

            The seaweed finds itself to be bland and ugly in comparison to the world of which it has entered, however, regardless of these feelings it is able to appreciate the beauty around itself, particularly the song of birds and the warmth of the sun. Nonetheless, the warmth from the sun soon begins to dry the seaweed while the birds that once sung about him now start to eat him. The seaweeds fate is foreshadowed in the lines “But yet I cannot ignore the glimmer of the soothing sun as it rains upon the ocean, / tattooed in red vivid hues; shinning like blood on a tissue.” The seaweed finds the world in which it has entered beautiful, however, what is beautiful will soon kill it as well. The author is using the description of setting as imagery to hint at the coming death from what at the moment was being enjoyed. There is nothing absurd about the seaweeds fate on the shore; rather this is a natural series of events that logically happen to every piece of seaweed that washes upon shore. The authors message behind this metaphor is that depression acts like an external force which has the potential to immerse itself with an individual and become a part of them, though it is not who they are. Depression when not treated properly is destructive. When one is depressed a part of them will wish they could feel happiness once again, however, because of the state of mind one enters while depressed, happiness does not have the same effects on them and as a result, happiness in itself can prove to be destructive to individuals suffering from depression.   

            The epilogue of Nietzsche’s quote is provided to add to the idea that depression often at times acts as an external force and is cannot be used as a means to effectively measure the essence of an individual. These three poems reflect different reactions that man may potentially feel when faced with the force of depression. Angelou appears to view tragic events as a means to make one strive for success, after we survive tragedy we become stronger people and knowing that is enough to make her live through these events when they occur. Frost feels trapped in depression as he expresses it as the weather, something that always drastically affects the mood of setting. However, Frost understands that suicide is not the answer to his depression and wishes to keep searching for freedom from his depression, wherever it may be. Finally, Murphy reflects on how depression at times may get the better of one and cause one to enter a world where they cannot escape. When presented together the three poems reveal how not only do we have different reactions to depression, but these reactions drastically affect our out look on life as well and in the case of “Drifting Upon Shore,” the way in which we end our lives too. 

Reviews

[InkSlinger]

Fascinating analysis on all three poems... Each offering a perspective on how we see life, and deal with the effects of depression. I have seen all three traits displayed through various friends.. I have watched them struggle, three of the four clutching to small rays of hope, glints in the darkness.. while the fourth found no way out, except to end his life, and leaving those whom loved him most drenched in hopelessness. When I first looked at this writing, I wasn't sure I would be able to finish reading such a dark matter, but you threaded interesting facts throughout, including your analysis.. Your work always impresses me..

[Coyote Poetry]

Thank you for your time and wisdom. Hemingway wrote of true life. A writer must taste life and experience pain and sweetness. Can't describe war, love or passion without tasting them. The three writers and poets had heart and vision. They left great words for us to understand and learn from. I will come back to this essay and read again. It is amazing.
Coyote

[Calypso]

This was good.

[smalltownsympathies]

Stupendous. I'm not reading any more of your things, I now feel extremely self conscious :)

[Ria Benthil]

INTRODUCTION

The research analysis of poetry was a clever proposal with an interesting approach to depression that is weaved into the three poems that has been selected. It allows the reader to analyze and interpret the perception of the writer; to make their own conclusions as well. The background of the authors will perfectly introduced so that the viewer is also aware to relate the authors poetry and the content of their obstacles; the “encounters with darkness.” Perhaps, the most appealing aspect of the structure is how the writer encompassed several focuses of the essay by using the three essays to emphasize the three techniques of how darkness is used in poetry. Near the end, the writer composed her own poem that presented itself as the grand finale; exposing her intellectual perception of depression. I would normally interpret the content of the poem with depth, but the writer has already translated the content. Therefore, I thought it may be suiting if I present my own thoughts on depression in itself since I confronted the content of the essay. I apologize if the review converges into a rant or if it was not what you were looking for.

PERSONAL INTERPRETATION

“Drifting Upon the Shore” is the poem that it is to be emphasized about interpreting depression. The concentration of the source of depression is claimed to be external in the poem, but I agree to a certain extent. In contrast, I think that depression is conceived externally and internally. An average human or an individual without an enhanced dramatized life also deals with the struggle of depression. Some may argue that each person experiences obstacles that will invoke the emotion of sadness, but I am referring to a time period when there is not something particular flawed that is causing depression. We could also fragment the perception of what depression is, but I am going to attempt to concentrate on the interpretation of the writer. There are those will not be able to comprehend their state of mind; it is the compost of a barren sea. The external atmosphere that revolves around the depressed may be an ideal support system, and the person will still be trapped within themselves. On a personal note, I use my poetry to expose the beauty of the darkness. In an altered perspective, I view as the darkness as innocent in an exquisite contradiction. The darkness is apart of depression, but the darkness also paints a portrait of the altruistic image of the person. In contrast, the light and beauty is a clever charlatan; presenting the fool’s gold surface while beneath it is deceitful.

CONCLUSION

Honestly, I could write a co essay in response to yours, but I thought it would be appropriate to approach “Encounters with Darkness” in this manner. I commend the ability of the writer to analyze the work of others along with hers while constructing such clarity of explaining the abstract runes within the poetry. I found that the additional poem that belonged to the writer was the perfect partner to the rest of the poems. Thank you kindly for sharing your perceptions and poetry.

[Liza]

thank you for sharing this with me; this kind of report was written with a creative thought to make a friend through a history of words. The authors here transformed their ashes into beauty and hope for those that may suffer; to not despair and hold on.

[Kate Hunter]

nice job. I could definitely see the standing point of this write.

[Kaitlyn]

Wow! it was an amazing read!

[JulieNorell]

WOw! You portrayed the emotions wonderfully! Good job!

[Julie Beth]

this was amazing :)

[Ruth]

This is absolutely amazing!
I am speechless, blown away and find this astounding work!
Although dark, this has elements of wisdom in it and that carries it along perfectly love:)
xx