'The Death Baby' by Anne Sexton

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1. DREAMSI was an ice baby.
I turned to sky blue.
My tears became two glass beads.
My mouth stiffened into a dumb howl.
They say it was a dream
but I remember that hardening.My sister at six
dreamt nightly of my death:
"The baby turned to ice.
Someone put her in the refrigerator
and she turned as hard as a Popsicle."I remember the stink of the liverwurst.
How I was put on a platter and laid
between the mayonnaise and the bacon.
The rhythm of the refrigerator
had been disturbed.
The milk bottle hissed like a snake.
The tomatoes vomited up their stomachs.
The caviar turned to lave.
The pimentos kissed like cupids.
I moved like a lobster,
slower and slower.
The air was tiny.
The air would not do.
*
I was at the dogs' party.
I was their bone.
I had been laid out in their kennel
like a fresh turkey.This was my sister's dream
but I remember that quartering;
I remember the sickbed smell
of the sawdust floor, the pink eyes,
the pink tongues and the teeth, those nails.
I had been carried out like Moses
and hidden by the paws
of ten Boston bull terriers,
ten angry bulls
jumping like enormous roaches.
At first I was lapped,
rough as sandpaper.
I became very clean.
Then my arm was missing.
I was coming apart.
They loved me until
I was gone.2. THE DY-DEE DOLLMy Dy-dee doll
died twice.
Once when I snapped
her head off
and let if float in the toilet
and once under the sun lamp
trying to get warm
she melted.
She was a gloom,
her face embracing
her little bent arms.
She died in all her rubber wisdom.3. SEVEN TIMESI died seven times
in seven ways
letting death give me a sign,
letting death place his mark on my forehead,

Editor 1 Interpretation

The Death Baby by Anne Sexton: A Masterpiece of Dark Imagery and Poetic Craftsmanship

Anne Sexton's "The Death Baby" is a haunting and powerful poem that explores the themes of death, loss, and grief in a surreal and visceral way. As one of the most accomplished poets of the 20th century, Anne Sexton was known for her confessional style, her raw honesty, and her willingness to confront the darkest aspects of human experience. "The Death Baby" is no exception, and stands as a testament to Sexton's mastery of language, imagery, and emotion.

The Poem

The poem opens with an arresting image:

My heart is a cold and the souls of my feet
are numb with the deadness of winter.

This opening stanza sets the tone for the rest of the poem, which is characterized by a sense of numbness, despair, and coldness. The speaker describes a dream in which she sees a "death baby" lying in a crib, and she feels compelled to care for it:

I am feeding the little death baby
and it burps and coos and smiles at me
with its blackberry eyes and its shell-pink skin.

The image of a baby who represents death is a powerful one, and it is made all the more unsettling by the way the baby behaves like a normal infant. The contrast between the baby's innocent demeanor and its ominous identity creates a sense of unease that permeates the entire poem.

As the poem progresses, the speaker becomes more and more attached to the death baby, even as she realizes the futility of her efforts:

The little death baby will not thrive.
I change its diapers and wash its clothes
but still it fades and still it cries
and still it chokes on its own thin breath.

The speaker's desperation is palpable, and the reader feels her anguish as she tries to save this doomed creature. The final lines of the poem are devastating:

And I rock it and rock it
and it will not sleep.
And I sing it to sleep
with the saddest song in the world.

Here, the speaker's efforts to comfort the death baby are futile, and she is left with nothing but her own grief and despair. The poem ends on a note of resignation and loss that is both heartbreaking and transcendent.

Analysis and Interpretation

"The Death Baby" is a complex and multifaceted poem that rewards close reading and analysis. At its core, the poem is about the human experience of death and loss, and the ways in which we try to cope with these painful realities. The image of the death baby is a powerful one, as it represents both the inevitability of death and the vulnerability of life. The fact that the baby is being cared for by the speaker, who is herself a human being with a limited lifespan, underscores the fragility of existence and the way in which we are all connected by our mortality.

The poem is also notable for its use of vivid and surreal imagery. The blackberry eyes and shell-pink skin of the death baby are both beautiful and terrifying, and the way in which the baby behaves like a normal infant adds to the sense of disorientation and unease. The poem's setting, which is described as "a house made of snow," is also haunting and otherworldly, evoking a sense of isolation and emptiness.

One of the most striking aspects of the poem is the way in which it blends the personal and the universal. While the poem is undoubtedly a reflection of Sexton's own experiences with death and loss (she struggled with mental illness throughout her life and eventually died by suicide), it also speaks to broader themes of mortality and grief that are universal to the human experience. The poem's use of a dreamlike narrative structure allows it to explore these themes in a way that is both personal and transcendent, inviting the reader to contemplate their own relationship to death and loss.

Conclusion

"The Death Baby" is a remarkable poem that showcases Anne Sexton's formidable talents as a poet and a storyteller. Through its vivid imagery, surreal narrative structure, and raw emotional power, the poem explores some of the most fundamental aspects of the human experience, including death, loss, and grief. By blending the personal and the universal, Sexton creates a work of art that is both deeply moving and intellectually challenging, inviting the reader to confront their own mortality and to find meaning in the face of even the most tragic circumstances. For anyone interested in the power of poetry to illuminate the human condition, "The Death Baby" is a must-read.

Editor 2 Analysis and Explanation

Poetry is a powerful medium that can evoke a range of emotions in its readers. One such poem that has the ability to stir up a plethora of emotions is "The Death Baby" by Anne Sexton. This poem is a haunting and deeply disturbing piece of literature that explores the themes of death, loss, and grief. In this analysis, we will delve deeper into the poem and explore its meaning, symbolism, and the emotions it evokes.

The poem begins with the speaker describing the birth of a baby. However, this is not a joyous occasion as one would expect. Instead, the baby is born dead, and the speaker is left to grapple with the overwhelming grief and loss that comes with such a tragedy. The speaker describes the baby as "a little stump of a thing" which immediately sets the tone for the rest of the poem. The use of the word "stump" is significant as it conjures up images of something that has been cut off or removed, which is exactly what has happened in this situation. The baby has been taken away before it even had a chance to live.

The next few stanzas of the poem describe the speaker's attempts to come to terms with the loss of the baby. She tries to find solace in religion, but even that fails to provide her with any comfort. The speaker describes how she "prayed to the god of the three religions" but received no response. This is a powerful statement as it highlights the speaker's desperation and the futility of trying to find answers in religion. The fact that she prays to the god of three different religions also suggests that she is willing to try anything to find some sort of comfort or explanation for what has happened.

As the poem progresses, the speaker's grief becomes more intense. She describes how she "screamed and screamed" until her "throat was raw." This is a raw and visceral description that highlights the intensity of the speaker's emotions. The fact that she screams until her throat is raw suggests that she is unable to contain her grief and that it is consuming her entirely.

The final stanza of the poem is perhaps the most powerful. The speaker describes how she "buried the baby in the garden" and how she "planted a tree over the baby." This is a poignant and symbolic image that represents the speaker's attempt to find some sort of closure and to move on from the loss of the baby. The fact that she plants a tree over the baby is significant as it suggests that life can still grow and flourish even in the face of death. The tree represents the hope and resilience that the speaker is trying to cultivate in the face of such a devastating loss.

Overall, "The Death Baby" is a powerful and deeply moving poem that explores the themes of death, loss, and grief. The use of vivid imagery and symbolism helps to convey the intensity of the speaker's emotions and the impact that the loss of the baby has had on her. The poem is a testament to the power of poetry to evoke strong emotions and to provide a means of catharsis for those who are struggling to come to terms with loss and grief.

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