Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Anne Sexton's poem "The Kiss" is an evocative and intense exploration of transformation, resurrection, and the overwhelming power of love or desire. Through vivid, visceral imagery, Sexton captures the speaker's shift from a state of emotional and physical numbness to one of electrifying vitality, brought on by the titular kiss. The poem is both a celebration of this awakening and a recognition of its consuming, almost destructive force.

The poem opens with the striking metaphor, "My mouth blooms like a cut." This image immediately sets a tone of violence mixed with beauty, suggesting that the kiss has opened the speaker up in a way that is both painful and life-giving. The word "bloom" implies growth and vitality, while "cut" introduces an element of injury or rupture. This duality hints at the complex nature of the kiss—it is both a wound and a source of new life.

The speaker reflects on a period of emotional desolation: "I've been wronged all year, tedious / nights, nothing but rough elbows in them." These lines convey a sense of loneliness and dissatisfaction, where the speaker’s nights are marked by discomfort and a lack of connection. The "rough elbows" suggest an abrasive, unkind intimacy, contrasting sharply with the transformative power of the kiss that follows. The reference to "delicate boxes of Kleenex calling crybaby / crybaby, you fool!" underscores the speaker’s self-pity and frustration, as they have been trapped in a cycle of sadness and self-reproach.

Before the kiss, the speaker describes their body as "useless," a stark assessment of their physical and emotional state. This sense of uselessness is suddenly upended as the kiss ignites a profound change: "Now it's tearing at its square corners. / It's tearing old Mary's garments off, knot by knot." The imagery here is both violent and liberating, suggesting that the kiss has unleashed a powerful force within the speaker, tearing away the constraints that have bound them. The reference to "old Mary's garments" might evoke religious or traditional imagery, indicating a stripping away of the old, the sacred, or the conventional to reveal something raw and new.

The speaker then describes their body as being "shot full of these electric bolts. / Zing! A resurrection!" This metaphor of electricity is central to the poem, capturing the sudden, jolting revival of the speaker’s senses and emotions. The word "resurrection" reinforces the idea that the kiss has brought the speaker back to life, not just figuratively but in a deeply visceral sense. The transformation is portrayed as immediate and powerful, akin to being struck by lightning.

Sexton continues with a nautical metaphor: "Once it was a boat, quite wooden / and with no business, no salt water under it / and in need of some paint. It was no more / than a group of boards." Here, the speaker compares their previous state to a lifeless, neglected boat—something that was once functional but has fallen into disrepair and purposelessness. The boat "with no salt water under it" suggests a lack of movement or purpose, adrift without direction or energy.

The kiss, however, has "hoisted" the boat, rigging it and preparing it for the journey ahead. The speaker’s body and spirit have been revitalized, transformed from something inert into something dynamic and full of potential. The phrase "She's been elected" conveys a sense of being chosen or elevated, as if the speaker has been singled out for this profound experience.

The transformation is so complete that the speaker’s "nerves are turned on," likened to "musical instruments." The body, once silent and still, is now alive with sound and sensation: "Where there was silence / the drums, the strings are incurably playing." The choice of the word "incurably" suggests that this change is permanent, an irreversible awakening that has set the speaker on a new course.

The poem concludes with the speaker attributing this transformation to the lover: "You did this. / Pure genius at work." The lover is likened to a composer, someone who has created this symphony of sensation within the speaker. The final line, "Darling, the composer has stepped / into fire," suggests that both the speaker and the lover are now consumed by the intensity of their passion. The fire represents both the creative and destructive potential of their connection, a force that can bring about profound change but also has the power to consume.

"The Kiss" is a powerful exploration of the ways in which love or desire can radically transform a person’s life. Anne Sexton uses rich, dynamic imagery to capture the intensity of this experience, portraying the kiss as a catalyst for rebirth and renewal. The poem speaks to the overwhelming power of connection, suggesting that it has the ability to bring us back to life, even as it exposes us to the potential for pain and destruction.

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