Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Anne Sexton's "Beginning the Hegira: Food" is a poem that delves into the primal, unfulfilled desires of the speaker, using food as a powerful metaphor for emotional and spiritual nourishment. The poem is steeped in imagery that evokes a sense of yearning and desperation, painting a vivid picture of the speaker’s unmet needs and the alienation that arises from this deprivation.

The poem opens with a direct and almost childlike demand: "I want mother's milk, / that good sour soup." Here, the speaker expresses a deep, almost instinctual craving for something as fundamental and nourishing as a mother's milk. The choice of "sour soup" adds complexity to this desire, suggesting that what the speaker seeks is not merely sustenance but something with depth and character—something that sustains on a deeper level. This craving is not just for physical nourishment but for the comfort, security, and intimacy associated with a maternal figure.

Sexton continues to build on this metaphor with imagery that is both sensual and earthy: "I want breasts singing like eggplants, / and a mouth above making kisses. / I want nipples like shy strawberries / for I need to suck the sky." The comparison of breasts to eggplants and strawberries blurs the lines between food and the body, highlighting the speaker's conflation of physical hunger with a deeper emotional need. The act of "sucking the sky" conveys a longing for something beyond the immediate—a need to connect with something vast and encompassing, perhaps the divine or the infinite.

The poem then shifts to a more aggressive tone with the line "I need to bite also / as in a carrot stick." This shift reflects the complexity of the speaker's desires; it is not enough to passively receive nourishment—there is also a need to actively engage, to bite, to take in the world with a certain ferocity. The juxtaposition of "arms that rock" with "two clean clam shells singing ocean" introduces the duality of comfort and strength, softness and resilience, that the speaker yearns for in their pursuit of sustenance.

Sexton introduces a sense of spiritual hunger with the line "Further I need weeds to eat / for they are the spinach of the soul." Weeds, often seen as undesirable, are here reimagined as necessary sustenance for the soul, indicating that the speaker seeks nourishment in unexpected or unconventional places. The "spinach of the soul" suggests something that, while perhaps unpalatable or difficult to digest, is ultimately beneficial and essential for spiritual growth.

However, the speaker's desperate pleas for nourishment are met with indifference and coldness: "I am hungry and you give me / a dictionary to decipher." The dictionary, a symbol of language and knowledge, is an inadequate substitute for the primal, physical sustenance the speaker craves. This moment underscores the disconnect between the speaker’s needs and what is offered, highlighting a profound sense of alienation. The image of the speaker as "a baby all wrapped up in its red howl" further emphasizes this sense of helplessness and vulnerability, as the speaker’s cries for help are met with a "salt" that stings rather than soothes.

The poem reaches a climax with the image of "nipples...stitched up like sutures," a powerful metaphor for the denial of nourishment and care. The act of sucking air, despite the effort to feed, symbolizes futility and frustration. Even "the big fat sugar moves away," leaving the speaker with nothing but emptiness. The repeated plea "Tell me! Tell me! Why is it?" captures the speaker's confusion and despair at being denied the sustenance they so desperately need.

The final lines of the poem—"I need food / and you walk away reading the paper"—are a stark depiction of neglect. The speaker’s basic need for nourishment, both physical and emotional, is ignored as the other person remains absorbed in something mundane and disconnected. This ending crystallizes the theme of abandonment and the profound sense of isolation that permeates the poem.

"Beginning the Hegira: Food" is a poignant exploration of unmet needs and the yearning for connection and nourishment. Sexton masterfully uses food as a metaphor to convey the speaker's deep emotional and spiritual hunger, capturing the agony of longing in a world that remains indifferent. The poem resonates with themes of abandonment, the inadequacy of language to fulfill primal needs, and the painful reality of unfulfilled desires. Through vivid and often unsettling imagery, Sexton invites the reader to experience the raw intensity of the speaker's hunger and the desolation that accompanies it.

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