Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Quest" by Sharon Olds is a raw and deeply introspective poem that explores a mother's terror and anxiety when her daughter goes missing for an hour, and the subsequent emotional and psychological aftermath. The poem captures the primal fear of losing a child and the profound realization of the potential for evil in the world, juxtaposed with the speaker's memories of her own childhood trauma.

The poem begins with the stark event: "The day my girl is lost for an hour," immediately setting a tone of urgency and fear. The phrase "I think she is gone forever and then I find her" encapsulates the rollercoaster of emotions the speaker experiences—from dread to immense relief. Following this emotional ordeal, the speaker's actions become almost ritualistic and deeply nurturing; she goes to the corner store to buy orange juice, intending to nourish her daughter "for her lips, tongue, palate, throat, / stomach, blood, every gold cell of her body." This detailed enumeration emphasizes the mother's intense need to care for and protect her child, to restore her to safety and wholeness.

The speaker's interaction at the store is brief but meaningful; she jokes with the storekeeper, a small act of normalcy that starkly contrasts with the inner turmoil she feels. As she leaves the store, the reality of what could have happened overwhelms her: "I walk out into the winter air and weep." The cold air and her tears underscore the coldness and harshness of the world she fears for her child.

The poem then shifts to a broader contemplation of the dangers lurking in society. The speaker describes passing "huge cockeyed buildings massive as prisons," filled with "people, some who would love to take my girl, to undo her, fine strand by fine strand." The imagery here is stark and unsettling, with the buildings symbolizing the anonymous, impersonal nature of potential threats. The speaker imagines these places as filled with "rope, ironing-boards, sash, wire, / iron-cords woven in black and blue spirals like umbilici," a nightmarish inventory of objects that could be used for harm, evoking a sense of menace and entrapment.

The speaker's "quest" becomes clear: it is a quest to understand "the evil in the human heart." As she walks home, she scrutinizes the faces of passersby, searching for signs of this darkness. However, she finds only "dark beauty, the rage," but not the overt evil she fears. This search reflects the universal and often unanswerable question of how to recognize and guard against malevolence in a world that can appear benign.

The poem then delves into the speaker's personal history, recounting a traumatic memory of being tied to a chair by her parents, who withheld food from her. The vivid and disturbing imagery—"my stomach a gold mace, my wrists like birds the / shrike has hung by the throat from barbed wire"—conveys the physical and emotional pain of that experience. Yet, when she looked into her parents' eyes, all she saw was "goodness," highlighting the complex and often hidden nature of harm and the difficulty of reconciling outward appearances with internal realities.

The poem returns to the present, with the speaker holding the jar of orange juice—"the blood of oranges / pressed to my breast." This image symbolizes the life-giving nourishment she seeks to provide her daughter, contrasting with her own experiences of deprivation. The urgency in the final line, "I cannot get it to her fast enough," underscores the speaker's deep-seated need to protect and care for her child, a desperate attempt to counterbalance the evil she perceives in the world.

"Quest" poignantly explores the depths of a parent's love and fear, the anxiety over potential threats to one's children, and the lingering scars of personal trauma. Sharon Olds captures the intense, protective instincts of motherhood, the pervasive fear of loss, and the haunting memories that shape one's worldview. The poem is a powerful meditation on the complexities of human nature, the struggle to understand and combat evil, and the enduring hope and resilience embodied in the act of nurturing and caring for those we love.

Copyright (c) 2024 PoetryExplorer

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...