A Battle with Life in Wanting to Die by Anne Sexton

A Battle with Life in Wanting to Die by Anne Sexton

The poem "Wanting to Die" by Anne Sexton, explores a battle with life

which many people endure. The speaker knows of the goodness of the world, yet

she is unable to truly experience it because of her suicidal tendencies. She

understands her feeling as more of an obsession with death rather than a hate for

life. Though the speaker is still alive, she relapses, every so often, into the

darkness of her soul. Through her vivid use of imagery, Sexton creates and

elucidates the speaker's susceptibility to suicide.

It is apparent from the first stanza the speaker finds her life lacking. The

first lines of the poem describe the speaker's ordinary days: "Since you ask, most

days I cannot remember. / I walk in my clothing, unmarked by that voyage."( 1-2)

The speaker does not think about her bouts with depression. She merely walks in

her clothing, or goes about her normal daily activities, unhindered by her past

unhappiness. Yet, the third line, "Then the almost unnamable lust returns",

explains her sudden regression from amiable to despondent feelings. After

examining a mere three lines the reader already has a strong grasp of the poem's

theme.

The next stanza incorporates a slightly happier tone than the first. "Even

then I have nothing against life. / I know well the blades of grass you mention, /

the furniture you have placed under the sun." (4-6) The speaker realizes all the

good of the world around her-- the things as basic as, like the freshness of grass

and the warmth of sunshine. She respects them as do all people. The tone present

here is much more up-lifting than in the first stanza and the reader begins to have

hope for the speaker....

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...arelessly open, / something unsaid, the phone

off the hook / and the love, whatever it was, an infection." ( 31 - 33), the speaker

explains the spontaneity of suicides and the mix of emotions which flash through

the mind preceding a suicide. She describes how suicides are often times

unplanned and how all the love in the world cannot save a suicidal person.

When one commits suicide the first question loved ones ask is "Why?" In

Sexton's poem, "Wanting to Die", the speaker tries to explain the swirling of

emotion which accompanies suicide. She also alludes to the fact that suicidal

feelings recur when one may least expect it. The speaker invites the reader to

examine all aspects of suicide, and to realize suicidal tendencies are hard to curb.

The poem attempts to summarize the feelings of suicide as well as provide insight

to the suicidal mind.