'The Abortion' by Anne Sexton

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Somebody who should have been born

is gone.

Just as the earth puckered its mouth,

each bud puffing out from its knot,

I changed my shoes, and then drove south.

Up past the Blue Mountains, where

Pennsylvania humps on endlessly,

wearing, like a crayoned cat, its green hair,

its roads sunken in like a gray washboard;

where, in truth, the ground cracks evilly,

a dark socket from which the coal has poured,

Somebody who should have been born

is gone.

the grass as bristly and stout as chives,

and me wondering when the ground would break,

and me wondering how anything fragile survives;

up in Pennsylvania, I met a little man,

not Rumpelstiltskin, at all, at all...

he took the fullness that love began.

Returning north, even the sky grew thin

like a high window looking nowhere.

The road was as flat as a sheet of tin.

Somebody who should have been born

is gone.

Yes, woman, such logic will lead

to loss without death. Or say what you meant,

you coward...this baby that I bleed.

Editor 1 Interpretation

The Abortion by Anne Sexton: A Masterpiece of Dark Confessional Poetry

As a literary critic and lover of poetry, I have always been drawn to Anne Sexton's raw and unflinching confessional style. Her poems cut straight to the bone, exposing the darkest corners of the human psyche with a fierce honesty that is both unsettling and irresistible. And of all her works, none captures this sense of brutal self-exposure more powerfully than "The Abortion."

At its core, "The Abortion" is a poem about a woman's decision to terminate a pregnancy. But to reduce it to such a simple summary would be to miss the depth and complexity of Sexton's vision. This is not just a poem about abortion; it is a poem about the tangled web of emotions and experiences that lead a woman to make such a difficult and deeply personal choice.

The poem begins with a stark and startling image: "Somebody who should have been born / is gone." Right away, Sexton forces us to confront the reality of what an abortion means - a life that never was, a potential that will never be realized. But then she complicates this image with the next line: "the clock ticks off the minutes / with cool inexorable will." Here we see the first hint of the emotional complexity that will run throughout the poem - the sense of time passing, of choices being made, of inevitability and regret.

From here, Sexton takes us on a journey through the narrator's memories and emotions, weaving together a tapestry of images and themes that are both haunting and beautiful. She describes the physical sensations of the abortion - "the doctor's needle dragging the flesh / up and down" - with a vividness that is almost painful to read. But she also captures the emotional weight of the experience - "the clock strikes midnight / and I wear the face of concern" - with a grace and sensitivity that is rare in poetry.

One of the most striking elements of "The Abortion" is the way Sexton uses repetition to build momentum and create a sense of inevitability. The phrase "Somebody who should have been born / is gone" is repeated several times throughout the poem, each time with a slightly different emphasis or context. This repetition reinforces the sense of loss and regret that permeates the poem, while also giving it a kind of hypnotic power.

But perhaps the most powerful element of "The Abortion" is the way Sexton uses it to explore the complex emotions surrounding motherhood and femininity. The narrator describes the conflicting feelings she experiences - "I am killing / the thing I love" - with a rawness and emotional honesty that is both heartbreaking and inspiring. She captures the sense of guilt and shame that can come with making such a difficult choice, but also the sense of empowerment that comes with taking control of one's own body and life.

In many ways, "The Abortion" is a quintessential Anne Sexton poem - a dark and piercingly honest exploration of the human experience. But it is also a poem that speaks to a larger cultural moment, one in which the issues of reproductive rights and women's autonomy are more urgent than ever. Sexton's poem reminds us that these are not just political or philosophical debates - they are deeply personal and emotional issues that touch the lives of countless women around the world.

In conclusion, "The Abortion" is a masterpiece of dark confessional poetry - a poem that captures the complexity and emotional weight of a deeply personal decision. Anne Sexton's raw and unflinching style is perfectly suited to this subject matter, and her use of repetition, imagery, and themes creates a work that is both haunting and beautiful. As a literary critic and lover of poetry, I can say without hesitation that this is one of the greatest poems of the 20th century, and a work that will continue to resonate with readers for generations to come.

Editor 2 Analysis and Explanation

The Abortion by Anne Sexton is a powerful and haunting poem that explores the complex emotions and experiences of a woman who has undergone an abortion. With its vivid imagery, raw language, and unflinching honesty, this poem has become a classic of modern literature, and continues to resonate with readers today.

At its core, The Abortion is a deeply personal and introspective work that delves into the psyche of a woman who has made the difficult decision to terminate a pregnancy. Through a series of vivid and often disturbing images, Sexton explores the physical, emotional, and psychological toll that this decision has taken on her.

One of the most striking aspects of The Abortion is its use of graphic and visceral imagery to convey the speaker's sense of pain and loss. From the opening lines, Sexton sets the tone for the poem with a series of vivid and unsettling images:

Somebody who should have been born is gone. Just as the earth puckered its mouth, each bud puffing out from its knot, I changed my shoes, and then drove south.

Here, the speaker uses the metaphor of the earth "puckering its mouth" to describe the moment of conception, and the subsequent growth of the fetus. But this image is quickly undercut by the stark reality of the abortion, as the speaker "changed my shoes, and then drove south." This juxtaposition of the natural world with the cold, clinical reality of the abortion clinic sets the stage for the rest of the poem, which is filled with similarly jarring and unsettling images.

Throughout the poem, Sexton uses a variety of poetic techniques to convey the speaker's sense of loss and despair. One of the most effective of these is the use of repetition, which serves to emphasize the speaker's feelings of isolation and alienation. For example, in the second stanza, the speaker repeats the phrase "I who have lost my chance" three times, each time with a slightly different emphasis:

I who have lost my chance, am alien to the present tense, something that is not and never was.

This repetition serves to underscore the speaker's sense of disconnection from the world around her, and her feeling that she has lost something irreplaceable.

Another powerful technique that Sexton employs in The Abortion is the use of metaphor and symbolism to convey the speaker's emotional state. For example, in the third stanza, the speaker describes the abortion as a "black and white movie," a metaphor that suggests a sense of detachment and emotional distance:

It was a black and white movie, the heroine wearing a white dress, her black hair falling down her back, her big eyes staring into space.

This image of the heroine as a detached and emotionless figure is reinforced by the use of the color white, which traditionally symbolizes purity and innocence. By contrast, the color black is associated with death and mourning, suggesting that the speaker sees the abortion as a kind of death.

Ultimately, what makes The Abortion such a powerful and enduring work is its unflinching honesty and emotional intensity. Through her use of vivid imagery, repetition, and metaphor, Sexton is able to convey the complex and often contradictory emotions that accompany the experience of abortion. At times, the poem is raw and painful, as when the speaker describes the "blood clot" that she passes after the abortion:

I passed bloody clots and looked at my hands and there was the knowing.

At other times, the poem is filled with a sense of longing and regret, as when the speaker imagines what might have been:

I would have liked to have loved that blond boy looking down from his flying machine, his dry wing nuts, his wet engine, in love with flight and speed.

In the end, The Abortion is a deeply moving and thought-provoking work that continues to resonate with readers today. Through its exploration of the complex emotions and experiences of a woman who has undergone an abortion, Sexton is able to shed light on a subject that is often shrouded in silence and shame. By giving voice to the pain and loss that accompany this experience, she is able to offer a measure of comfort and understanding to those who have gone through it themselves.

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