Poem

The poem I'm doing this week is "in Blackwater Woods." when I first start reading it I get this scene of like the white massive pillars of Heaven's gates. "turning their own bodies into pillars of light, are giving off the rich fragrance of cinnamon and fulfillment." It reminds me of a sweet smelling safe place with these big grand white pillars I.E. Heaven. Then it kind of turns the slightest bit just a tad dark "every pond no matter what its name is, is nameless now." This darkens the mood a little but still kind of gives that feel of Heaven because once your soul goes to Heaven it really doesn't have a face or a name any more. "the fires and the black river of loss whose other side is salvation..." This to me is the climax. It's building like this black river is dark and mean and cold but on the other side is salvation where you can live eternally. So it's dark and sad for us who are still on this side of the river but for the one you lost it's their salvation. This is my favorite part of the poem, "to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, let it go." Love someone with everything you have but be able to let them go when the time comes because they are on the other side of the river. They're on the salvation side. :-) The author breaks the poem up into 9 4 line stanzas but breaks the sentences up so the last thought ends on the first line of the stanza after it. i believe he does this is to keep the poem flowing through all the stanzas and to build upon these ideas he is building. Like he breaks the idea of whats on the two sides of the rivers. He wants you to antcipate what's coming. He wants you to be eager to read the next stanza.