Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Anne Sexton's "Divorce" is a raw and evocative exploration of the emotional aftermath of a relationship's end, capturing the sense of loss, regret, and the persistent, haunting memories of love that refuse to fade. Through powerful imagery and deeply personal reflections, Sexton conveys the internal struggle of trying to sever ties with the past, only to find that the remnants of that love stubbornly cling on, refusing to be fully extinguished.

The poem begins with a striking and violent declaration: "I have killed our lives together, / axed off each head." This metaphor of killing the shared life and experiences suggests a deliberate, almost desperate attempt to end the relationship, to sever the bonds that once held the speaker and her partner together. The image of "their poor blue eyes stuck in a beach ball / rolling separately down the drive" evokes a sense of disorientation and loss, as if the once unified life has been dismembered and left to drift apart, aimlessly and without direction. The beach ball, a typically playful and innocent object, here becomes a symbol of something broken and scattered, its movement down the drive suggesting a gradual, inevitable separation.

Despite this violent severance, the speaker laments that she has not succeeded in fully erasing the past: "I have killed all the good things, / but they are too stubborn for me. / They hang on." The "good things" — the small moments of companionship, the thread of compassion, the physical intimacy that bore two daughters — are depicted as too resilient to be easily eradicated. These memories have "crawled into their graves," suggesting that while they have been buried, they are not truly dead; they persist in some form, continuing to haunt the speaker.

The speaker's memories are vivid and specific, highlighting the intimacy and routine of married life. She recalls "the look of you dressing, / early, / all the separate clothes, neat and folded," and the simple act of her partner "polishing your shoes with boot black." These mundane details capture the deep familiarity and affection that characterized the relationship, underscoring the sense of loss now that it is gone. The speaker confesses, "I loved you then, so wise from the shower, / and I loved you many other times," acknowledging that despite the pain and the attempts to move on, the love they shared was real and profound.

The poem then shifts to the speaker's efforts to "drown it, / to push it under," likening the persistence of her love to a fish with "its great red tongue." This image of trying to submerge love, to keep it hidden beneath the surface, reflects the speaker's struggle to suppress her emotions, to control the remnants of affection that continue to surface. Yet, no matter how hard she tries, these feelings "are on fire," refusing to be extinguished. The fish — "the bass, the bluefish, the wall-eyed flounder" — are described as "blazing among the kelp and seaweed / like many suns battering up the waves," illustrating the intensity and resilience of these memories, which refuse to be subdued.

The speaker's love remains "bitterly glowing," a phrase that captures the complexity of her emotions — the love is still there, but it is tinged with bitterness and pain. The "spasms of it will not sleep," conveying that these feelings are involuntary, uncontrollable, and relentless. The imagery of fire and burning suggests a love that is both destructive and illuminating, something that continues to consume the speaker even as she tries to move on.

In the final lines, the speaker expresses a deep sense of helplessness and longing: "and I am helpless and thirsty and need shade / but there is no one to cover me — / not even God." This admission reveals the speaker's vulnerability and despair, as she finds herself exposed and unprotected, longing for relief from the relentless emotional turmoil. The absence of "shade" — a symbol of comfort and protection — and the realization that "not even God" can offer solace, underscores the profound sense of abandonment and isolation the speaker feels in the wake of the divorce.

"Divorce" is a poignant and powerful reflection on the enduring impact of love, even after a relationship has ended. Through vivid and often painful imagery, Sexton captures the complexity of trying to sever emotional ties, the persistence of memory, and the deep sense of loss that accompanies the dissolution of a shared life. The poem speaks to the difficulty of moving on from a love that continues to burn, even in the face of efforts to extinguish it, and the profound loneliness that can result when the past refuses to stay buried.

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