'As It Was Written' by Anne Sexton


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Earth, earth,
riding your merry-go-round
toward extinction,
right to the roots,
thickening the oceans like gravy,
festering in your caves,
you are becoming a latrine.
Your trees are twisted chairs.
Your flowers moan at their mirrors,
and cry for a sun that doesn't wear a mask.

Your clouds wear white,
trying to become nuns
and say novenas to the sky.
The sky is yellow with its jaundice,
and its veins spill into the rivers
where the fish kneel down
to swallow hair and goat's eyes.

All in all, I'd say,
the world is strangling.
And I, in my bed each night,
listen to my twenty shoes
converse about it.
And the moon,
under its dark hood,
falls out of the sky each night,
with its hungry red mouth
to suck at my scars.

Editor 1 Interpretation

Anne Sexton's "As It Was Written": A Deep Dive into the Depths of the Human Psyche

Anne Sexton's "As It Was Written" is a powerful poem that explores the complexity of human emotions and the depths of the human psyche. The poem is a haunting portrayal of the human experience, filled with vivid imagery and raw emotion.

At its core, "As It Was Written" is a poem about the struggle to find meaning and purpose in life. The speaker of the poem is grappling with feelings of loneliness and despair, yearning for some kind of connection with the world around her. The poem is filled with vivid images of darkness and emptiness, creating a sense of foreboding that permeates the entire text.

One of the most striking features of "As It Was Written" is the way in which Sexton uses language to convey the speaker's emotions. The poem is filled with vivid imagery and powerful metaphors, each one carefully crafted to convey a specific feeling or emotion. For example, the line "I am a dead woman / who remembers love" is a powerful metaphor for the speaker's sense of loss and longing.

Throughout the poem, Sexton also uses repetition to reinforce the speaker's emotions. The phrase "as it was written" appears multiple times throughout the text, creating a sense of inevitability and fatalism. The repetition of this phrase reinforces the idea that the speaker is trapped in a cycle of despair, unable to escape her own emotions.

Another striking feature of "As It Was Written" is the way in which the poem is structured. The poem is divided into four stanzas, each one building on the emotions and themes of the previous stanza. The first stanza sets the tone for the rest of the poem, introducing the speaker and her sense of loneliness and despair. The second stanza delves deeper into the speaker's emotions, exploring her sense of loss and longing. The third stanza is the most powerful, with the speaker lamenting the inevitability of her own fate. The final stanza brings the poem to a close, with the speaker resigned to her own fate and the cycle of life and death.

Overall, "As It Was Written" is a powerful and haunting poem that explores the depths of the human psyche. Sexton's use of imagery and metaphor create a vivid and visceral portrayal of the speaker's emotions, and the repetition of key phrases reinforces the sense of inevitability that permeates the poem. This is a poem that demands to be read and re-read, each time revealing new layers of meaning and emotion.

Editor 2 Analysis and Explanation

As It Was Written: A Poem of Self-Discovery and Acceptance

Anne Sexton’s poem, As It Was Written, is a powerful piece of literature that explores the themes of self-discovery and acceptance. The poem is a journey of the speaker’s self-realization and acceptance of her true identity. Through the use of vivid imagery, metaphors, and symbolism, Sexton takes the reader on a journey of self-discovery and acceptance.

The poem begins with the speaker questioning her identity and her place in the world. She feels lost and disconnected from herself and the world around her. The opening lines of the poem set the tone for the rest of the piece:

“I was born without knowing why, I was born without knowing who, I was born without knowing where, I was born without knowing when.”

These lines convey the speaker’s sense of confusion and disorientation. She feels like she has been thrown into the world without any understanding of who she is or where she belongs. The repetition of the phrase “I was born” emphasizes the speaker’s sense of being adrift in the world.

As the poem progresses, the speaker begins to explore her identity and her place in the world. She uses vivid imagery to describe her journey of self-discovery:

“I walked through the forest of my own mind, I climbed the mountain of my own soul, I swam in the ocean of my own heart, And I discovered who I was.”

These lines are powerful because they show the speaker taking control of her own destiny. She is no longer content to simply drift through life without purpose. Instead, she actively seeks out her true identity and discovers it through her own efforts.

The use of metaphor in the poem is also significant. The forest, mountain, and ocean represent different aspects of the speaker’s psyche. The forest represents her mind, the mountain represents her soul, and the ocean represents her heart. By exploring these different aspects of herself, the speaker is able to discover her true identity.

The poem also contains several instances of symbolism. For example, the speaker describes herself as a “book with blank pages.” This symbolizes her sense of emptiness and lack of identity. However, as she begins to discover herself, the pages of the book begin to fill up with words:

“My pages filled with ink, My story began to unfold, As it was written.”

This symbolizes the speaker’s journey of self-discovery and the realization that her true identity was always there, waiting to be discovered.

The final lines of the poem are particularly powerful:

“I am who I am, As it was written.”

These lines represent the speaker’s acceptance of her true identity. She no longer feels lost or disconnected from herself. Instead, she embraces who she is and accepts herself for who she is.

In conclusion, Anne Sexton’s poem, As It Was Written, is a powerful exploration of the themes of self-discovery and acceptance. Through the use of vivid imagery, metaphors, and symbolism, Sexton takes the reader on a journey of self-realization and acceptance. The poem is a reminder that we all have the power to discover our true identities and to accept ourselves for who we are.

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