Saturday, August 17, 2019
Close Reading of Merwinââ¬â¢s Odysseus Essay
The subject in W.S. Merwinââ¬â¢s poem ââ¬Å"Odysseusâ⬠feels comfortable only at sea, and, because such a notion is atypical, he cannot articulate or understand where his true home actually is. oAt peace at sea: ââ¬Å"patience / He has wedded toâ⬠Numerous islands, but ââ¬Å"one to call ââ¬Ëhomeââ¬â¢,â⬠even though he Merwin never specifies which island Odysseus really calls home à ââ¬Å"which â⬠¦ / Was the one he kept sailing home to?â⬠â⬠¢W.S. Merwinââ¬â¢s speaker in ââ¬Å"Odysseusâ⬠is concerned about his romantic interests. ââ¬Å"Weddedâ⬠to his adventures, he experiences a schism when interacting with the women he meets on various islands. oââ¬Å"Put before him, the unraveling patience / He was wedded toâ⬠ââ¬Å"There were the islands / Each with its womanâ⬠Odysseus seems to have a woman on each island, and, not knowing which island is home, seems not to be particularly loyal to any one of them. oIndeed, Odysseus later even says that ââ¬Å"The knowledge of all that he betrayed / Grew till it was the same whether he stayed / Or went.â⬠The only constant in his life is, certainly, his oceanic adventure, which, while there may be many, never change noticeably in c ontent. â⬠¢A world-weary Odysseus relives his adventures in a repetitive, never-changing cycle, losing sight of the difference between ill-wishers and home. oJaded tone: ââ¬Å"always the setting forth was the same,â⬠ââ¬Å"he had got nowhere but older,â⬠ââ¬Å"identical reproaches,â⬠ââ¬Å"it was the same whether he stayed or wentâ⬠â⬠¢The speaker in ââ¬Å"Odysseusâ⬠roams the world, traveling in repetitive circles, hoping to allay the guilt that plagues him for ââ¬Å"betray[ing]â⬠so many women. oClaiming that ââ¬Å"The knowledge of all that he betrayed / Grew till it was the same whether he stayed / Or went,â⬠Odysseus looks for solace from the guilt he experiences from not staying true to any one woman. oWhile his days are repetitive and unchanging, his adventures are a constant, and Odysseus is able to consider himself ââ¬Å"weddedâ⬠to that ââ¬Å"unraveling patienceâ⬠he can keep coming back to after days on land. â⬠¢While Merwinââ¬â¢s speaker in Odysseus at times is unable to differentiate between those who wish him perils and those who remain remote and true, he continuously sails ââ¬Å"home,â⬠even while unable to define where home really is. ââ¬Å"What wonder / If sometimes he could not remember / Which was the one who wished on his departure / Perils that he could never sail through, / And which, improbable, remote, and true, / Was the one he kept sailing home to?â⬠Merwin rhetorically asks the listener to judge whether it really is Odysseusââ¬â¢s fault that he cannot distinguish between his ill-wishers and his home community. oWho is wishing Odysseus perils? Quite possible one of the women to which he was disloyal, and because there have been so many (every island, apparently), he now knows not which women still love him and which do not. â⬠¢W.S. Merwin describes in his poem ââ¬Å"Odysseusâ⬠the rift many experience when separating themselves from their interpretations of the norm. oOdysseus is accustomed to life as a traveler, with no real home on land. He also does not appear to be married to a woman; rather, he claims to be ââ¬Å"wedded toâ⬠an ââ¬Å"unraveling patience.â⬠However, while he is habituated to his daily life, to an outsider, Odysseus lives atypically. oOdysseus recognizes this fissure, but instead of living comfortably without regards to how others perceive him, he questions himself and attempts to shape his world into a way that outsiders would understand.
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