Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Anne Sexton's poem "The Fury of Beautiful Bones" is a haunting and introspective meditation on memory, love, and the enduring presence of the body even after love has faded or turned sour. Through her characteristic blend of vivid imagery and personal confession, Sexton explores the physicality of love—the way the body, particularly bones, remains as a powerful symbol of what once was, even when emotions and relationships have decayed.

The poem opens with a direct address to "bone," immediately personifying it and granting it a voice. The speaker implores the bones to "sing," asking for a series of symbolic and deeply personal images: a "nest of cup and pestle," a "sweetbread for an old grandfather," a "foot and a doorknob." These requests link the physical body to everyday objects, blending the mundane with the intimate, and suggesting that even the most ordinary parts of life are imbued with meaning when connected to the body and its memory. The repetition of "sing" emphasizes the importance of these bones, not just as remnants of the past, but as active participants in the narrative the speaker is constructing.

The term "bone bag man" introduces a figure from the speaker's past, a lover whose memory is intimately tied to his physical form. This man, with his "fingers long and nubby" and "forehead a beacon, bare as marble," is remembered not just for who he was, but for the way his bones and body were once intertwined with the speaker's own experience. The phrase "I was the fury of your bones" suggests a passionate, perhaps tumultuous relationship, one where the speaker's presence was felt viscerally, almost as a force within the man's very bones.

Sexton deftly weaves in the theme of love’s inevitable decay, reflecting on how the memory of this man and their relationship has soured over time: "I wonder, Mr. Bone man, what you're thinking / of your fury now, gone sour as a sinking whale." The imagery here is striking, comparing the deterioration of love to a whale sinking into the depths, heavy and bloated with decay. This sense of something once powerful now reduced to lifelessness permeates the poem, as the speaker grapples with the remnants of what was once a vital, living connection.

The speaker’s reflection on other women’s bones—"Women have lovely bones, arms, neck, thigh / and I admire them also"—acknowledges the beauty found in the physical form of others, yet it is the "tough ones that get broken and reset" that hold the speaker’s attention. This distinction between aesthetic beauty and the resilience of bones that have endured suffering and healing reflects Sexton’s deeper preoccupation with the complexities of the human body and spirit. The bones are not just beautiful; they are strong, enduring, and carry the scars of life’s trials.

The poem concludes with a focus on the skull, "Mr. Skeleton," which "liv[es] its own life in its own skin." This final image encapsulates the poem’s exploration of the body as both a vessel for life and a symbol of death. The skull, often associated with mortality, is here presented as something still alive, still possessing its own autonomy and presence, even after the passions and emotions connected to it have faded. The idea that the skull lives "its own life" suggests that the body, and particularly the bones, have a kind of enduring existence independent of the relationships and memories that once defined them.

"The Fury of Beautiful Bones" is a powerful reflection on the enduring physicality of the body, even as love and life change or end. Anne Sexton’s use of bone imagery highlights the way the body holds onto the past, carrying the weight of memory, suffering, and resilience. The poem is both an intimate confession and a broader meditation on the nature of love, loss, and the inevitable decay that follows. Through her evocative language and keen psychological insight, Sexton invites the reader to consider the complex relationship between the physical body and the emotional experiences that define our lives.

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