Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Anne Sexton’s "Buying the Whore" is a brutally raw and confrontational poem that explores themes of power, objectification, and self-loathing. Through a series of jarring metaphors, Sexton delves into the dehumanizing nature of transactional sex and the emotional complexities that accompany such an encounter. The poem examines the dynamics of control and the way in which desire can be tainted by anger, disgust, and a deep-seated sense of shame.

The poem begins with a stark and unsettling metaphor: "You are a roast beef I have purchased / and I stuff you with my very own onion." The comparison of the whore to a piece of meat immediately reduces her to an object, something to be consumed and used for nourishment. The act of "stuffing" her with an onion, a pungent and often tear-inducing vegetable, suggests an imposition of the speaker’s own bitterness and emotions onto her. This image conveys a sense of force and domination, as if the speaker is asserting control over the whore’s body by filling it with his own substance.

The poem continues with another metaphor that emphasizes control and destruction: "You are a boat I have rented by the hour / and I steer you with my rage until you run aground." The rented boat signifies a temporary and transactional relationship, one that is devoid of genuine connection or care. The speaker’s use of "rage" as the force that drives the boat reflects the anger and aggression underlying the encounter. The image of steering the boat until it "runs aground" suggests a deliberate attempt to cause damage or to reach a point of inevitable failure. This metaphor highlights the destructive potential of the speaker’s emotions and the way in which they manifest in his treatment of the whore.

The imagery grows even more violent as the speaker describes the whore as "a glass that I have paid to shatter / and I swallow the pieces down with my spit." Here, the act of paying for something with the intention of breaking it underscores the self-destructive nature of the speaker’s desires. The shattering of the glass symbolizes the breaking of the whore, both physically and emotionally, and the speaker’s consumption of the broken pieces represents the internalization of this destruction. The reference to "swallowing...with my spit" adds a layer of visceral disgust, as if the speaker is forcing himself to ingest the consequences of his own violence.

In the following lines, the whore is compared to "the grate I warm my trembling hands on, / searing the flesh until it's nice and juicy." This metaphor continues the theme of consumption and destruction, with the speaker deriving warmth and satisfaction from the whore at the cost of her suffering. The image of searing flesh, typically associated with cooking, suggests that the speaker is not only using the whore for his own comfort but also inflicting pain in the process. The description of the flesh becoming "nice and juicy" further emphasizes the speaker’s perception of the whore as a consumable object, something to be prepared and enjoyed at her expense.

The poem takes a particularly disturbing turn with the line, "You stink like my Mama under your bra." This comparison introduces a deeply personal and uncomfortable association between the whore and the speaker’s mother, implying a connection between his sexual desires and his unresolved feelings toward his mother. The mention of the mother’s smell under the bra suggests a mingling of the sexual and the maternal, evoking a sense of shame and revulsion. This line reveals the complexity of the speaker’s emotions, where desire is intertwined with disgust and possibly a subconscious attempt to confront or reconcile with his past.

The poem’s final lines are both jarring and revealing: "and I ^omit into your hand like a jackpot / its cold hard quarters." The use of "omit" (a likely intentional distortion of "vomit") suggests an act of expulsion, as if the speaker is ridding himself of something toxic. The comparison to a "jackpot" implies a perverse sense of reward or satisfaction, but the "cold hard quarters" indicate that this exchange is ultimately hollow and devoid of warmth or genuine connection. The image of quarters, typically associated with small, insignificant amounts of money, reinforces the idea of the whore being reduced to a mere transaction, a dehumanized object in the speaker’s quest for self-gratification.

"Buying the Whore" is a powerful and unsettling exploration of the darker aspects of human desire and the ways in which power, anger, and self-loathing can distort and degrade relationships. Sexton’s use of visceral and often violent imagery conveys the deep emotional turmoil of the speaker, who seeks to assert control over the whore while simultaneously grappling with his own internal conflicts. The poem challenges the reader to confront the uncomfortable realities of objectification and the psychological complexities that drive such behavior, offering a stark and unflinching look at the cost of reducing human beings to mere commodities in the pursuit of fleeting satisfaction.

Copyright (c) 2025 PoetryExplorer

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...