Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Carolyn Forché's "Sequestered Writing" is a haunting and introspective poem that delves into themes of memory, loss, and the ethereal presence of the past. The imagery is both vivid and enigmatic, creating a sense of mystery and introspection that invites readers to explore the deeper layers of the human psyche and the intangible connections to history and identity.

The poem opens with a striking image: "Horses were turned loose in the child's sorrow. Black and roan, cantering through snow." This evokes a sense of wild, untamed emotion, as the horses symbolize the raw, uncontrolled nature of sorrow. The contrast between the black and roan horses and the white snow amplifies the starkness of the child's emotional landscape.

Forché continues to explore the interplay between light and darkness, memory and loss: "The way light fills the hand with light, November with graves, infancy with white." This line suggests the paradoxical nature of light, both illuminating and obscuring, much like memory itself. The juxtaposition of November, a month often associated with decay and death, with graves, and infancy with white, symbolizes the purity and blank slate of early childhood contrasted with the inevitability of mortality.

The poem introduces a sense of vanishing and absence: "White. Given lilacs, lilacs disappear. Then low voices rising in walls." The lilacs, symbols of fleeting beauty and fragility, disappear as soon as they are given, emphasizing the transience of life and beauty. The "low voices rising in walls" suggest hidden, perhaps forgotten, memories or secrets that linger just out of reach.

Forché's imagery becomes more surreal and ghostly as the poem progresses: "The way they withdrew from the child's body and spoke as if it were not there." This line conveys a sense of detachment and disembodiment, as if the child is a passive witness to events beyond their control. The question "What ghost comes to the bedside whispering You?" introduces the idea of a spectral presence, an unseen force that haunts and influences the living.

The ghostly imagery is further developed with references to a "dwarf ghost," "a closet of empty clothes," and "a ghost who stole household goods." These lines suggest a haunting that is both mundane and deeply personal, affecting the intimate spaces of home and self. The ghost is not just a supernatural entity but a metaphor for the lingering presence of the past and the unresolved emotions it carries.

The poem's setting in a domestic space is underscored by the image of the ghost sleepwalking "into a mirror wearing mother's robe" and "a bedsheet lifts from the bed and hovers." These moments evoke a sense of eerie familiarity, as if the past is constantly replaying itself within the confines of the home.

Forché delves into the symbolic significance of objects and spaces: "The bookcase knows, and also the darkness of books. Long passages into, / Endless histories toward, sleeping pages about." The bookcase and books represent the accumulation of knowledge and history, both personal and collective. They hold the weight of the past and the secrets it contains, suggesting that understanding the present requires delving into these "sleeping pages."

The poem concludes with a reflection on language and memory: "A language that once sent ravens through firs. The open world from which it came." This line evokes the idea of an ancient, forgotten language that connects the present to a distant past. The ravens, often symbols of mystery and omens, suggest a communication with the unknown.

The final lines, "Words holding the scent of an asylum fifty years. It is fifty years, then. / The child hears from within: Come here and know, below / And unbeknownst to us, what these fields had been," underscore the theme of uncovering hidden truths. The scent of an asylum evokes memories of confinement and loss, while the call to "come here and know" invites a deeper understanding of the past's impact on the present.

"Sequestered Writing" is a richly layered poem that explores the intersections of memory, identity, and the passage of time. Carolyn Forché's evocative imagery and introspective tone create a haunting meditation on the ghosts that inhabit our lives, urging us to confront and understand the histories that shape us.

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