Poem At 39 Analysis

Many people believe that the worst part of remembrance is all the pain that comes with it. But what actually causes all the suffering is loneliness. Memories, thoughts and ideas all have to be shared in order to understand them better, or to let go of them. In this essay I will be looking at 6 poems: “Piano” by D.H. Lawrence, “Poem at 39” by Alice Walker, “Stop All The Clocks” by Auden, “War Photographer” by Carol Ann Duffy, “Praise Song” by Grace Nichols and finally “Digging” by Seamus Heaney and how they present their memories.

In “Poem at 39” Alice Walker mainly talks about memories she had with her father and how her feelings towards him have altered throughout the years. The poem was written when she was 39 years old, divorced from her husband and in need of a father for her daughter. She changes the way she thinks and feels about him while writing the poem. Walker mentions the lessons her father taught her, the things that were important to him, “writing deposit slips and checks”. Her father only earned 300$ a year, therefore money was something they did not really have. When she was younger, Walker thought of her father as someone who wanted to be in control of her, telling her what to do and how to do it right, in a way, he planned her future yet she had other ideas which can be seen from the quote “many of her truths must have grieved him”, which suggests her beliefs were not accepted by him. Later, when the memories become more powerful, shown with the use of an exclamation mark when Walker repeats the sentence “How I miss my father!” she starts remembering the best thing about him, the way he cooked and shared his food, that he was a happy and peaceful man “dancing in a yoga meditation”. While writing the poem, she re...

... middle of paper ...

...r past has helped them becoming a better person, as for Walker, Lawrence and Nichols it was their parent that has taught them how to grow into successful adults. All six poems show the power memories can have, how they can put tears into the eyes of a grown-up man or hurt someone who hasn’t even experienced their memory themselves.
Oscar Wilde once said, “Memory is the diary we all carry about with us”, songs and smells will bring you back, some might be painful, and nevertheless it’s wrong to hide from the past. Every little thing you go through makes you the person you are, they are the only things that will remain to you, they are like a treasure no one can take away. You might decide to “weep like a child for the past”, though personally I believe you shouldn’t waste your time and make more memories worth remembering because in the end, what will you have left?