Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "Memorial I," Audre Lorde navigates the complexities of memory, sorrow, and the delicate interplay between life and death. The poem opens with an invitation that is as much an invocation of presence as it is an appeal for a soft approach to the weighty subjects at hand: "If you come as softly / As the wind within the trees / You may hear what I hear / See what sorrow sees."

Here, the wind is not just a metaphor for gentleness but also serves as a symbol for things that are felt but not seen. The wind, though invisible, moves the trees, just as sorrow, though intangible, affects the person who experiences it. This same subtleness is asked of the visitor. The requirement for 'softness' is not trivial; it's necessary for genuine understanding and empathetic connection.

The second stanza continues the theme of softness and lightness, adding another layer with "As threading dew." Dew represents something delicate, ephemeral, and fragile. Here, Lorde indicates that an understanding of sorrow doesn't necessitate a heavy, burdensome approach but can be done with a light touch, perhaps because sorrow itself is such a weighty thing that one needs no additional heaviness.

The idea of sitting "Silent as a breath" captures a profound thought-that silence can be as necessary as breathing. In moments of intense sorrow or remembering, sometimes words fail, and silence is all that remains. The haunting line, "Only those who stay dead / Shall remember death," reflects the idea that death isn't something to be constantly feared or obsessed over but something that has its own time and place in the tapestry of life.

The poem culminates in a moment of shared sorrow and understanding. There is no need for explanation, no need for words like 'why,' 'how,' or 'what.' These are questions for other times. This is a moment for simply sitting, for sharing the weight of memories and sorrows "beneath two different years."

Importantly, Lorde's final lines indicate that though the years may be different-perhaps a nod to differences in age, experience, or even time since a loss-the "rich between us / Shall drink our tears." Here, 'rich' could stand for a multitude of things: rich silence, rich memories, rich understanding, or even the rich sorrow that comes from truly knowing and feeling. The tears become a shared offering, drunk by the richness of what lies between them, unspoken yet deeply understood.

"Memorial I" serves as a poignant meditation on the nuanced emotions around sorrow and remembrance. It invites the reader to approach these feelings softly, with the gentleness of wind and dew, so that the silence shared is as telling and as necessary as the words that might fill it. Through this delicate approach, the poem captures the paradox of memory-that it can be both a weight to bear and a richness to share.

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