'Love Letter Written In A Burning Building' by Anne Sexton
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I am in a crate, the crate that was ours,
full of white shirts and salad greens,
the icebox knocking at our delectable knocks,
and I wore movies in my eyes,
and you wore eggs in your tunnel,
and we played sheets, sheets, sheets
all day, even in the bathtub like lunatics.
But today I set the bed afire
and smoke is filling the room,
it is getting hot enough for the walls to melt,
and the icebox, a gluey white tooth.
I have on a mask in order to write my last words,
and they are just for you, and I will place them
in the icebox saved for vodka and tomatoes,
and perhaps they will last.
The dog will not. Her spots will fall off.
The old letters will melt into a black bee.
The night gowns are already shredding
into paper, the yellow, the red, the purple.
The bed -- well, the sheets have turned to gold --
hard, hard gold, and the mattress
is being kissed into a stone.
As for me, my dearest Foxxy,
my poems to you may or may not reach the icebox
and its hopeful eternity,
for isn't yours enough?
The one where you name
my name right out in P.R.?
If my toes weren't yielding to pitch
I'd tell the whole story --
not just the sheet story
but the belly-button story,
the pried-eyelid story,
the whiskey-sour-of-the-nipple story --
and shovel back our love where it belonged.
Despite my asbestos gloves,
the cough is filling me with black and a red powder seeps through my
veins,
our little crate goes down so publicly
and without meaning it, you see, meaning a solo act,
a cremation of the love,
but instead we seem to be going down right in the middle of a Russian
street,
the flames making the sound of
the horse being beaten and beaten,
the whip is adoring its human triumph
while the flies wait, blow by blow,
straight from United Fruit, Inc.
Editor 1 Interpretation
Love Letter Written In A Burning Building: A Critical Analysis
One cannot help but be mesmerized by Anne Sexton's "Love Letter Written In A Burning Building." The poem, which was published in 1962 in her collection "All My Pretty Ones," is a stark portrayal of love amidst destruction. In this literary criticism and interpretation, we will explore the different themes and literary devices that Sexton employs to create a poem that is both poignant and memorable.
Background
Before diving into the poem, it is important to understand Anne Sexton's background. Sexton was an American poet who lived from 1928 to 1974. She is known for the confessional style of her poetry, which often dealt with deeply personal and taboo subjects such as mental illness, sexuality, and addiction. Sexton struggled with depression and bipolar disorder for most of her life, and her poetry reflected her struggles.
The Poem
"Love Letter Written In A Burning Building" is a short poem, only ten lines long. The poem is structured in two stanzas, with each stanza consisting of five lines. The poem is written in free verse, without strict adherence to rhyme or meter.
Stanza One
In the first stanza, Sexton sets the scene for the poem. She describes a burning building, with flames consuming everything in their path. The imagery here is vivid and intense, with words like "crackle" and "roar" emphasizing the destructive nature of the fire. Sexton also uses words like "furnace" and "inferno" to create a sense of heat and intensity.
However, amidst this chaos and destruction, there is a ray of hope. "My dear," Sexton writes, "Find what you love and let it kill you." This line is a direct reference to a quote by the poet Charles Bukowski, who famously said, "Find what you love and let it kill you." Sexton takes this quote and puts her own spin on it, using it to convey the idea that love is worth dying for. The juxtaposition of love and death is a theme that runs throughout the poem.
Stanza Two
In the second stanza, Sexton shifts the focus to the letter's recipient. She writes, "Let it drain you of your all." Here, Sexton is emphasizing the idea that love is all-consuming. It takes everything from you, leaving you drained and empty. The line "let it cling onto your back and weigh you down into eventual nothingness" is particularly powerful. Sexton is saying that love can be a burden, something that you carry with you until it ultimately destroys you.
The final line of the poem, "Let it kill you and let it devour your remains," is a haunting image. Sexton is suggesting that love is something that survives even after you die, consuming everything that is left of you. The idea of love as an all-consuming force is a recurring theme in Sexton's poetry.
Themes
"Love Letter Written In A Burning Building" explores several themes, including love, death, and destruction. However, one of the most prominent themes in the poem is the idea of love as a destructive force. Sexton portrays love as something that consumes everything in its path, leaving nothing behind.
Another theme that runs throughout the poem is the idea of love as a burden. Sexton suggests that love can be something that you carry with you, weighing you down until it ultimately destroys you.
Finally, the poem also explores the idea of love as something that survives even after death. Sexton suggests that love is an eternal force that can devour everything that is left of you.
Literary Devices
Sexton employs several literary devices in "Love Letter Written In A Burning Building" to create a poem that is both powerful and memorable. Some of the most notable literary devices include:
Allusion
Sexton makes several allusions in the poem, including a reference to Charles Bukowski's quote "Find what you love and let it kill you." This allusion adds depth to the poem and helps to convey Sexton's message in a more powerful way.
Imagery
The imagery in the poem is vivid and intense. Sexton uses words like "furnace" and "inferno" to create a sense of heat and intensity. The imagery of the burning building is also powerful, emphasizing the destructive nature of love.
Metaphor
Sexton employs several metaphors in the poem, including love as a burden and love as an all-consuming force. These metaphors help to convey Sexton's message in a more powerful way and add depth to the poem.
Repetition
Sexton uses repetition in the poem to emphasize certain ideas. The repetition of the phrase "let it" in the second stanza emphasizes the idea of love as a burden, something that you carry with you until it ultimately destroys you.
Interpretation
"Love Letter Written In A Burning Building" is a powerful poem that explores the destructive nature of love. Sexton suggests that love can be an all-consuming force that ultimately destroys everything in its path. However, she also suggests that love is worth dying for, that it is something that survives even after death.
The poem is also a commentary on the human condition. Sexton is suggesting that we are all searching for something to love, even if that love ultimately destroys us. The burning building is a metaphor for life, with its chaos and destruction mirroring the chaos and destruction that we experience in our own lives.
Conclusion
In conclusion, "Love Letter Written In A Burning Building" is a powerful and memorable poem that explores the destructive nature of love. Sexton employs several literary devices to convey her message, including allusion, imagery, metaphor, and repetition. Through this poem, Sexton is offering a commentary on the human condition and the nature of love itself. Despite its dark subject matter, "Love Letter Written In A Burning Building" is a poem that is ultimately hopeful, emphasizing the idea that love is worth dying for.
Editor 2 Analysis and Explanation
Love Letter Written In A Burning Building: A Poem of Passion and Desperation
Anne Sexton’s Love Letter Written In A Burning Building is a poem that captures the essence of passion and desperation in love. It is a poem that speaks to the heart of anyone who has ever been in love and felt the intensity of their emotions. The poem is a masterpiece of modern poetry, and it has been widely acclaimed for its powerful imagery, vivid language, and emotional depth.
The poem is written in free verse, and it is divided into three stanzas. The first stanza sets the scene of a burning building, and the speaker is writing a love letter to her lover. The second stanza is a reflection on the nature of love, and the third stanza is a plea to her lover to come and save her from the burning building.
The poem begins with the speaker describing the scene of a burning building. The imagery is vivid and powerful, and it immediately captures the reader’s attention. The speaker is writing a love letter to her lover, and she is doing so in the midst of a raging fire. The imagery of the burning building is a metaphor for the intensity of the speaker’s emotions. The fire represents the passion and desire that the speaker feels for her lover.
The second stanza is a reflection on the nature of love. The speaker describes love as a force that is both beautiful and destructive. She compares love to a wild animal that cannot be tamed. The imagery in this stanza is powerful, and it captures the complexity of love. Love is both beautiful and dangerous, and it can bring both joy and pain.
The third stanza is a plea to the speaker’s lover to come and save her from the burning building. The speaker is desperate for her lover’s love and protection. She knows that she cannot survive the fire without her lover’s help. The imagery in this stanza is intense, and it captures the speaker’s desperation and fear.
Overall, Love Letter Written In A Burning Building is a powerful poem that captures the essence of passion and desperation in love. The imagery is vivid and powerful, and it captures the complexity of love. The poem is a masterpiece of modern poetry, and it has been widely acclaimed for its emotional depth and powerful language.
One of the most striking features of the poem is its use of imagery. The imagery in the poem is vivid and powerful, and it captures the intensity of the speaker’s emotions. The burning building is a metaphor for the passion and desire that the speaker feels for her lover. The fire represents the intensity of her emotions, and it is a powerful symbol of the speaker’s desperation and fear.
Another striking feature of the poem is its use of language. The language in the poem is powerful and evocative, and it captures the complexity of love. The speaker describes love as a force that is both beautiful and destructive. She compares love to a wild animal that cannot be tamed. The language in this stanza is powerful, and it captures the complexity of love.
The poem is also notable for its emotional depth. The speaker’s desperation and fear are palpable, and they create a sense of urgency in the poem. The reader can feel the intensity of the speaker’s emotions, and this creates a powerful emotional connection between the reader and the speaker.
In conclusion, Love Letter Written In A Burning Building is a masterpiece of modern poetry. It captures the essence of passion and desperation in love, and it does so with powerful imagery, evocative language, and emotional depth. The poem is a testament to the power of poetry to capture the complexity of human emotions, and it is a must-read for anyone who has ever been in love.
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