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Everything grows cold at a distance:
poles from equators, babes
from parents, lovers from arms, and this –
the ocean (almost hot, like tea, at top. So ankles-first I plunge
off the slope, where sands drop
away, and everything
is farther and blinder, uncradled and
currented,
more work than play)
from the light.
What's warm is wide,
but thin : pull down
from that tangent
surface and
the day
might
as
w
e
l
l
h
a
v
e
n ever been.
*Thanks Julie P. (people circle sky – Paris), David K. (road by sea - Greece), and Krista L. (perfect shore – Santa Barbara) for making this collage full.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that struck me about this poem was the visual structure of it. I liked how you showed how "everything grows cold at a distance" when you literally separated the nouns such as poles, babes, and lovers, from their prospective mates with large spaces in between. I didn't see it at first but I thought it was brilliant how you used the ocean as a means to extrapolate how everything gets colder, and thus darker with time. At first the ocean looks inviting, and yet when you decide to plunge into it you realize the inside hides so much that is invisible at first glance from out of the water. In addition, when you ended the poem using a single letter in each line I think it adds a nice touch of obscurity to the prevailing idea explored in the beginning. It's also a technique I don't see that is used very often, but I think it emphasizes the end of the poem very nicely.
ReplyDelete"...everything gets colder, and thus darker with time." I don't know that I'd agree with this -- with time & distance, yes, things grow cold (spend enough time apart from a friend, even a really good one, and you begin to forget why you ever fancied them).
DeleteBut if you're implying that, even when things are close together, they grow colder with time ... that's a little bit darker view of reality than I want to believe ;)
The use of imagery to re-enact several important life events in this poem is astounding -- the incorporation of such details allows for a unique experience that creates an undeniable bond between the writer and the reader. As an example, the "lovers [parting] from arms" is a moment in life that many people experience, but it is only through a description that consists of a comparison to a wide ocean that the reader can vividly relate to and envision their own personal memories and hence have their emotions resurface. The meaning of the poem, in my own interpretation based on what I have recently experienced, is that life is in a constant state of flux. As such, it is of absolute necessity to release one's internal restraint of being fearful or reluctant of experiencing the unknown. The "ankles-first I plunge off the slope" mentality is a requirement in order to achieve a sense of contentment within a life that will rarely remain in the status quo. While the idea of "lovers parting" is a notion often utilized in literature, it is the ability to convey the feeling of loss in conjunction with a sense of vitality that allows for the true human experience to surface, as accomplished in this poem.
ReplyDeleteThe term “Hope’s Replacement”, alone, begins the poem with a transition from hope, to its counterpart, despair. I truly appreciate this title because there are so few titles that clearly reflect the meaning of the work. Hope is an emotion that is associated with warm, comforting feelings while despair is cold and unpleasant; thus enacting the first line, “Everything grows cold at a distance:”. I just did not expect the next phrase to be so literal; it caught me off guard, but I found it funny. I found the ocean metaphor to be a perfect example of how heat and light can only go so far and once they are gone, it is as if they were not there in the first place. This applies to the idea of permanence and how the poem is non-existent when it is not being read, but every time someone reads the poem gain presence. It is like hope, once someone is hopeless, it is irrelevant that the hope was ever there, but when the sun comes back the hope is restored. Like the wide warmth in the water, hope is spread out through out the world, however people have many fears and doubts that threaten hope and it is these internal fears that prevent hope from over-taking the body. Hope is essential for getting through tough situations, like being on a little boat and enduring a ramped storm, so it is also essential that we hold hope close to us so that we do not plunge into a pit of cold darkness. This poem does an excellent job making this message universal by mentioning that the poles are cold because they are distanced from the equator and the ocean; there is no better universality tool than the wide expanse of water that literally connects all the world’s nations into one world.
ReplyDelete"...it is also essential that we hold hope close to us so that we do not plunge into a pit of cold darkness." Sometimes you have to plunge in; it's valuable to remember what you're getting into I think.
DeleteThat's what this poem is about (it's a pretty dark one).
I enjoy how the structure of this poem demonstrates the distance you mention in the first line. As the lines get shorter it seems as if the speaker is shrinking away from the reader. The increasing amount of space created in each line throughout the poem to me illustrates a growing separation, which highlights the separation that grows between “babes and parents” and the other examples you give.
ReplyDeleteHelena, I also see how the the detachment of the words exemplifies the disconnected nature of the relationships mentioned in the beginning of the poem. I didn’t initially see how the shrinking of the lines could seem as if the speaker is shrinking away from the actual reader. That kind of interaction between the speaker and the reader is not generally something I think about, so I think that’s a really interesting observation.
DeleteI think that the poem is saying more than just how initial couples, such as “babes and parents” tend to grow apart and become cold. I think that the poem is going into the feeling of discomfort and anxiety that results from a cold and distant relationship, yet at the same time, how that distance eventually develops into one's reality. The poem explains that the ocean is “hot” “at top,” but once the speakers “plunges” his ankles in, everything becomes “farther and blinder.” The deeper into the ocean he goes, the colder it gets, for he continues to enter more foreign territory and grow farther apart from the initial, close interaction. In addition. “what’s warm is wide,” meaning it is well-known, but that sense of knowledge is “thin,” fragile and often superficial. As the speaker moves farther away from the surface, the more the surface knowledge becomes irrelevant and the cold distance becomes familiar.
Helen Vendler talks about the significance of space in a poem, and I believe that this poem accurately exemplifies that. From the beginning there is a space between the first line and the rest of the poem. That space is a visual representation of the cold that grows at a distance and as the lengths of the lines shorten, the speaker is withering away and diminishing, separation from roots is inevitable with growth, and this poem is not only aesthetically pleasing and symbolic, but your diction provides a theme and message that is relatable to people of all ages.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info, E.F.
DeleteWhen I first came across this poem I noticed the structure. The structure of this poem seemed very symbolic due to the variation in spaces and line lengths. While I continued to read the poem I noticed how each of the words were placed a certain distance away to show the detachment this item had from the world. Each space was symbolic to the meaning of the word and the image it is trying to convey. Also, with the poem starting off with image of the two poles, I think it shows how “everything grows cold at a distance” (1). This image really helps illuminate the main idea of the poem while also showing a concrete example in life; two poles on opposite sides of the world and both extremely cold. Another part of the poem that seemed intriguing was the structure of the last three words of the poem. I believe that the arrangement of these last words help add to the dark and mysterious tone. By having the words “well have” stretched out vertically helps to establish a mood of uncertainty. The structure of this poem helps connect the ideas of the poem; therefore, making it a little bit easier to interpret.
ReplyDeleteThis first thing I noticed about this poem, “Hope’s Replacement II” was the images of the oranges peeled along with the background trail and beautiful sandy beach. When looking at it the first thing that came to my mind was a mirage. I got the sense when you introduce the poem through the first line, “Everything grows cold at a distance” it can relate back to how the mind grows confused and lonely when it can’t reach a goal.This is because the vivid illusion of what is wanted such as food or water seen in the distance. I tied this thought back into the poem because of the title, “Hope’s Replacement II” as a representation to the mirage to the appearance of the ocean and the fruit. When it comes to the actual moment there is lost hope when realizing that it was just the imagination taking over. At this point in the poem I sense carelessness and how you don't really care about anything or anyone. When you explain, “I plunge off the slope[...]and everything is farther and blinder” (lines 4-6) this shows how at this moment you didn't care about jumping off the slope and that as you did so you looked around you and saw everything was becoming more distant and more blurry. Just as a mirage the atmospheric conditions that one will observe around them and won’t always be clear either. The closer one comes to thinking they will eventually feel find what they are searching for at a distance the greater the feeling of hopelessness becomes for the mind to confuse itself with the body that there is still hope. Towards the end when you expand the words “well have never been”(lines 14-24) this gives me a greater understanding that what the mind desires and the longer the distance they travel the more potential they have to search for something that was never there. From these lines I came to a conclusion that you are referring to the emotions that are lost through people that grow distant. Close relationships with parents, relationships and objects are so easily separated and forgotten at times that your reasoning comes to perhaps thinking that there never really was or should have been the situation to emphasize even more to this viewpoint. Overall I was interested in the concept of the poem because of the connection I could make to it and the way I personally viewed it by the photo and the ideas that were expressed together.. Although we may not realize it everything we encounter in this world will and can become lifeless and lonely with distance.
ReplyDeleteYou seem to be intent on fitting the theme of a mirage into this poem, in a way that the text does not support -- and in pursuit of proving that theme (which, like a mirage, is only in the reader's imagination) you are distracted from what the poem is communicating: 1 simple argument, 1 scene of related imagery.
DeleteWhen you say, "At this point in the poem I sense carelessness and how you don't really care about anything or anyone" when the poem itself is describing the speaker diving enthusiastically {read: with vested interest, care} into the ocean ... I think this may actually be projecting your own distance from the poem.
Like most people the first thing that grabbed my attention was the physical structure of the poem. I enjoyed the spacing between the words as well as the thinning out of the lines at the very end as it presented a physicality to the idea of two things being pulled apart. This poem did make me feel "cold" in side, I think I shivered at the idea of being pulled down from a "tangent surface." I enjoyed the imagery that was presented as it nicely complimented the idea of struggling to fill gaps and hold on to any lasting strains of hope. I think its an innate quality that all humans gravitate toward searching for some sort of hope in everything even when its gone.
ReplyDeleteLike most people the first thing that grabbed my attention was the physical structure of the poem. I enjoyed the spacing between the words as well as the thinning out of the lines at the very end as it presented a physicality to the idea of two things being pulled apart. This poem did make me feel "cold" in side, I think I shivered at the idea of being pulled down from a "tangent surface." I enjoyed the imagery that was presented as it nicely complimented the idea of struggling to fill gaps and hold on to any lasting strains of hope. I think its an innate quality that all humans gravitate toward searching for some sort of hope in everything even when its gone.
ReplyDeleteReading this as a young person about to go to college, the beginning of this poem struck a chord with me, my excitement to leave home and begin a new experience is gradually becoming more fearful. The thought of leaving my home, family and friends scares me because of the distance that will be between us and the uncertainty of how the relationships that are important to me will survive. But I too must take the plunge into the uncertain, change is inevitable and people grow apart. I just hope that with some effort, I can keep things from changing too much.
ReplyDeleteImmediately, this poem feels like a dream. Or maybe not a dream, but the dream-like surreality that comes with certain situations. A few days ago, I was riding my bike alone on the strand, and the wind blowing in my face was cold but made me feel very alive. I watched the sun set and I felt the urge to turn my bike toward the water and pedal into the ocean. Part of me wanted to swim into the deep water, knowing the it would be even colder than the air but that it would make feel weightless in the purple-green light of the sunset through the water. The other part of me knew that I could not pedal through the sand to get to the water, that once I got to the water I would get tired of swimming rather quickly, that I would not see the sunset but only swells pulling me around. This poem reminded me of this experience, perhaps because of the lines about diving unto the ocean “where sands drop away, and everything / is farther and blinder” (5-6). I think, though, that the most striking part is after the speaker dove into the ocean — actually, metaphorically, however way — he realizes the day might as well have never been. The sense of detachment from the world I get from the speaker at the end of the poem is much like what I was feeling the other day at sunset, and I think that is why I connected to this poem.
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteFrom the collage at the beginning to the first line, this poem brought out a sense of nostalgia in me, making me feel reminiscent of the days when I wasn’t so focused on going off to college and starting my own independent life. To me, the collage resembles the phases of the moon, the full moon bright and potent one night, then fading to just a sliver in a short amount of time. Everything around us has an end, but we don’t take notice of even half of these things. Relationships will end, whether it be by way of a broken heart or “right person wrong time,” or worst of all, a death. Days end and turn to night, childhood ends, youth fades, and we are constantly changing. What I found in this poem is that the structure does the same; the structure fades away until there is only a sliver of writing, reinforcing the theme of change and departures. While change and distance may be ominous and “cold” as the poem says, change also brings so many new sources of warmth and light. This poem spoke to me, being that I am a senior almost heading off to college in a different state, and this poem will apply to all aspects of my life. The thing is, I am not afraid of this distance, rather I am excited to put space between my comfort and newness. What stood out to me most was that the poem didn’t feel rushed, rather it felt as though I was reading a journal encouraging me to wake up and enjoy what I have now
ReplyDeleteAfter reading through the poem and looking back to the collage, the poem’s meaning and initial impact on me completely changed. Although the poem has darker tones, discussing the distance that grows with time, the bright oranges contrasting against the dark blues of the oceans represent a deeper warmth reminiscent of the nostalgia and memories that accompany the distancing effects we as humans experience over the course of our lives. Being an ambivert, I am constantly drawn between distance and proximity, and this poem just reminds me of the paradoxical nature of my character and how while distance is negative for the soul by withdrawing sources of love and support, it can also be incredibly healing by finding alternatives for or developing independence from that love for the soul. Also, as a worrier, this poem made me realize that my overthinking of the future and of change is a source of comfort that I use to get lost in the fantasy of the world and avoid its reality, even if the reality is something much easier to deal with. I know that if I had read this poem a year ago, I would have had an incredibly bland reaction to it, with no connection to the story whatsoever. After exploring more of my individual identity and being pushed to look back on my years growing up, I have found that, just as the poem says, “What’s warm is wide”, in that, although I have all of these choices to make and pieces of myself to pick back up to move forward into the next phase of my life, I cannot be too scared or worried of change or distance because of the promise it brings me and because its a natural movement of life.
ReplyDelete