'The Death King' by Anne Sexton
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I hired a carpenter
to build my coffin
and last night I lay in it,
braced by a pillow,
sniffing the wood,
letting the old king
breathe on me,
thinking of my poor murdered body,
murdered by time,
waiting to turn stiff as a field marshal,
letting the silence dishonor me,
remembering that I'll never cough again.
Death will be the end of fear
and the fear of dying,
fear like a dog stuffed in my mouth,
feal like dung stuffed up my nose,
fear where water turns into steel,
fear as my breast flies into the Disposall,
fear as flies tremble in my ear,
fear as the sun ignites in my lap,
fear as night can't be shut off,
and the dawn, my habitual dawn,
is locked up forever.
Fear and a coffin to lie in
like a dead potato.
Even then I will dance in my dire clothes,
a crematory flight,
blinding my hair and my fingers,
wounding God with his blue face,
his tyranny, his absolute kingdom,
with my aphrodisiac.
Editor 1 Interpretation
The Death King by Anne Sexton: A Deep Dive into the Dark World of Death
Every now and then, a poem comes along that shakes you to your core. A poem that takes you to places you never thought you'd go, that forces you to confront things you've been avoiding your whole life. Anne Sexton's The Death King is one such poem. With every word, every image, every metaphor, it plunges you deeper into the dark world of death and leaves you gasping for breath.
The World of Death
The Death King opens with the line "I have gone out, a possessed witch," immediately setting the tone for the rest of the poem. The word "possessed" suggests that the speaker is not in control of herself, that she has been taken over by a force beyond her control. This force, we soon learn, is death itself.
Throughout the poem, Sexton uses vivid, sometimes grotesque imagery to convey the world of death. We see "bats from hell," "a red-eyed dog," and "a prince of ice." The Death King himself is described as having "a face like the trap of a sink." These images are unsettling, to say the least, and they create a sense of dread in the reader. We know that we are not in a safe place.
But the world of death is not just scary and grotesque. It is also beautiful, in a strange and twisted way. The speaker describes "the night flowers / that bloom on the face of the king," and the "birds of paradise / that sing in his garden." These images are both eerie and alluring, and they draw the reader deeper into the world of death.
The Speaker's Relationship with Death
One of the most striking things about The Death King is the speaker's relationship with death. She seems to be both fascinated and repelled by it, drawn to it even as it terrifies her. She says, "I have kissed / the lips of the king / and I have made him a poem / I have kissed the lips of the king / and I have made him my lover." This language is sensual and intimate, suggesting that the speaker has a complex relationship with death.
At the same time, the speaker is aware of the danger that comes with this relationship. She says, "I have gone out, a possessed witch / haunting the black air, braver at night." She knows that she is taking a risk by engaging with the world of death, that she is putting herself in danger. And yet she cannot resist it.
Interpretation
So what does it all mean? What is Anne Sexton trying to tell us with this dark, disturbing poem?
At its core, The Death King is about our relationship with death. It asks us to confront the fact that death is a part of life, that we cannot escape it no matter how hard we try. But it also suggests that there is something alluring about death, something that draws us in even as it scares us.
The speaker's relationship with death can be read as a metaphor for our own relationship with mortality. We are both fascinated and repelled by death, drawn to it even as we fear it. We know that we cannot escape it, that it is a part of our lives, and yet we cannot help but be drawn to it.
Conclusion
In the end, The Death King is a powerful, haunting poem that forces us to confront our own mortality. It takes us on a journey through the dark world of death, showing us its beauty and its horror. And in doing so, it asks us to consider our own relationship with death, and what it means to be alive.
Editor 2 Analysis and Explanation
The Death King: A Poem of Dark Beauty
Anne Sexton's The Death King is a haunting and beautiful poem that explores the themes of death, love, and power. Written in 1962, the poem is a powerful example of Sexton's unique style, which blends the personal and the mythic to create a work of great emotional depth and complexity.
At its core, The Death King is a love poem, but it is a love poem unlike any other. The speaker of the poem is a woman who has fallen in love with Death himself, and she describes their relationship in vivid and often disturbing detail. The poem is divided into three sections, each of which explores a different aspect of the speaker's relationship with Death.
The first section of the poem is titled "The Death King's Horse's Mane," and it sets the tone for the rest of the work. The speaker describes Death as a powerful and seductive figure, riding a black horse with a mane that "flows like a river of ink." She is drawn to him despite his frightening appearance, and she longs to be close to him:
I want to be the hair in his mane
to be part of his flowing cloak
to be the scarf around his neck
to be the glove on his hand
to be everything that he touches.
This desire for intimacy with Death is both beautiful and unsettling, and it sets the stage for the rest of the poem.
The second section of the poem, "The Death King's Garden," explores the speaker's relationship with Death in more detail. She describes a garden that Death has created for her, filled with "flowers that bloom in the dark" and "trees that grow upside down." The garden is a symbol of the speaker's love for Death, and it is a place where she feels safe and protected:
In the Death King's garden
I am safe from the sun
safe from the moon
safe from the wind
safe from the rain.
But even in this idyllic setting, there is a sense of danger and unease. The speaker describes the garden as "a place of bones," and she acknowledges that Death is a powerful and unpredictable figure:
The Death King is a master
of the art of surprise
he can make the flowers bloom
or he can make them die.
Despite this, the speaker remains devoted to Death, and she longs to be with him forever:
I want to be the rose in his garden
to be the thorn on his stem
to be the leaf on his tree
to be everything that he is.
The final section of the poem, "The Death King's Bed," is the most intense and disturbing. The speaker describes lying in bed with Death, feeling his cold embrace and his "breath like a winter wind." She is both terrified and exhilarated by his presence, and she longs to be consumed by him:
I want to be the sheet on his bed
to be the pillow under his head
to be the blanket that covers him
to be everything that he needs.
The poem ends with the speaker acknowledging the power of Death and her own mortality:
I am not afraid of the Death King
I am not afraid of his power
I am not afraid of his love
I am only afraid of myself.
The Death King is a powerful and complex poem that explores the themes of love, death, and power in a unique and compelling way. Sexton's use of vivid imagery and her ability to blend the personal and the mythic make this poem a work of great emotional depth and beauty. It is a testament to the power of poetry to explore the darkest corners of the human experience and to find beauty and meaning in even the most terrifying aspects of life.
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