Some Last Questions - W.S. Merwin
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Some Last Questions
What is the head
---A. Ash
What are the eyes
---A. The wells have fallen in and have
------Inhabitants
What are the feet
---A. Thumbs left after the auction
No what are the feet
---A. Under them the impossible road is moving
------Down which the broken necked mice push
------Balls of blood with their noses
What is the tongue
---A. The black coat that fell off the wall
------With sleeves trying to say something
What are the hands
---A. Paid
No what are the hands
---A. Climbing back down the museum wall
------To their ancestors the extinct shrews that will
------Have left a message
What is the silence
---A. As though it had a right to move
Who are the compatriots
---A. They make the stars of bone
W.S. Merwin -
Prac Crit time.
Can't make head or tail of this. Anybody?
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a dismembered body?
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(taking back my words)Originally posted by InnoHippo:a dismembered body?
hmmm..... be back later to ponder. -
if the answers are separated from the questions,Originally posted by MooKu:Huh?
How do you read the poem?
Are the answers linked to the questions?
Or are we supposed to read the answers separately from the questions?
this poem might just fall apart
anyway, wait for the gurus to give their more professional critics
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corpse, death, funeral??
i no noe .. me no professional critic -
Sounds like slavery to me.
Yeah, definitely slavery. -
seems the poet is trying to question and attempting to understand the function of a collection of body parts, perhaps trying to understand what is a body, what makes it, what makes up a human being? there is an urgency inherent in the repeated questioning, seems a desperate attempt at understanding. not sure if he gets any answers as even the tongue is mute. Quite interesting piece, difficult to understand and abstract but very interestingly imagistic.
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Hello Mooku, like I’ve said in my “pm” although I have read some of his poems but I am not familiar with him. What I do know about him is that he is great with metaphors and images. He poems are also very different from other contemporary poets especially in the way he presented them. Imo, for most of his poems you have to read between the lines and what I like about his poems is that they force you to pause and think. He forces you to visualize his poems line by line.
Take the following for example,
What is the tongue
---A. The black coat that fell off the wall
------With sleeves trying to say something
What did you see? For me I see a person with a rotten tongue that had fallen off trying desperately to communicate. What is this person trying to say? I donÂ’t know. Maybe it is about the environment, maybe it is about the government. But the main thing is he is unable to bring the message across and he is very frustrated. Maybe you have a different interpretation but it is really okay.
Well Mooku, thanks for your post now I am going to find out more about him.