Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Anne Sexton's poem "The Red Dance" vividly captures a moment of intense, almost surreal emotion and experience, as it follows a young woman dancing along the Charles River in Boston. The poem is rich in imagery, blending the physical landscape of the city with a deep, internal narrative that evokes themes of isolation, identity, and the inexorable pull toward an inevitable end.

The poem opens with the introduction of "a girl who danced in the city that night," immediately setting the scene in a specific time and place—April 22nd along the Charles River. This detail situates the reader in a concrete moment, yet the dance itself quickly becomes a more abstract, symbolic act. The mention of "one hundred men" or "the one hundred eyes of God" watching her dance suggests a sense of being observed, judged, or perhaps even protected. This duality hints at both human and divine oversight, adding a layer of tension between earthly experiences and spiritual contemplation.

The natural surroundings are described in a way that imbues them with a sense of otherworldliness. The "yellow patches in the sycamores" that "glowed like miniature flashlights" create an almost mystical atmosphere, where even the trees seem to participate in the dance. The "shadows, the skin of them / were ice cubes" that "flashed / from the red dress to the roof" further emphasize the cold, fleeting nature of the scene, where the girl's vibrant red dress stands out against the backdrop of the city.

The repetition of the color red—"a red, red dress"—highlights its significance. Red, often associated with passion, danger, and life, contrasts with the impending sense of death that permeates the poem. The girl's dance is described as a "death dance," suggesting that her movements are not just an expression of life but also a prelude to her end. The imagery of the rain, which she "thought it part of the river," blurs the boundaries between the girl and her surroundings, as if she is becoming one with the environment around her.

As the girl dances, the poem juxtaposes her actions with the mundane world around her: "cars and trucks went by / on Memorial Drive" and "Harvard students in the brick / hallowed houses studied Sappho in cement rooms." These references to ordinary life continue uninterrupted as the girl engages in her extraordinary dance, highlighting the isolation and disconnection she feels from the world. The students, studying Sappho, a poet often associated with love and longing, serve as a symbolic backdrop to the girl's own longing and despair. The fact that she is likened to Sappho herself— "this Sappho danced on the grass / and danced and danced and danced"—connects her to the ancient poet, suggesting a shared experience of intense emotion and possible tragedy.

The poem takes a darker turn with the encounter with "a black man who asked this Sappho the time," to which she responds, "Why do you lie to me?" This interaction, brief and strange, underscores the girl's disconnection from reality and her sense of betrayal or confusion. The man's simple question, normally a mundane interaction, is transformed into an existential challenge, further isolating the girl in her spiraling thoughts.

The river, "sticking out in many colored tongues," symbolizes the many directions her life could take, yet it also suggests the inevitability of being swallowed by it. The river, often a symbol of life and flow, here becomes a destination for dissolution and death. The girl knows she will "enter the lights / and be lit by them and sink into them," foretelling her fate as she merges with the Charles, which represents both the beauty and the danger of surrendering to fate.

The final lines of the poem, where it is "foretold to her" that she "would aspirate swallowing a fish, / going down with God's first creature / dancing all the way," solidify the poem's connection to themes of fate and predestination. The fish, a symbol of Christ and of the primal beginnings of life, becomes the instrument of her demise. The girl’s death, as she chokes on the fish, ties her to both divine and natural forces, suggesting that her end is not just a personal tragedy but a fulfillment of some larger, cosmic narrative.

"The Red Dance" is a haunting and evocative poem that captures the intensity of a life teetering on the edge of despair and dissolution. Through rich imagery and a blend of the mundane and the mystical, Anne Sexton explores the themes of isolation, identity, and the inexorable pull of death. The poem leaves the reader with a sense of the tragic beauty of life, where the dance between vitality and destruction is both inevitable and, in its own way, transcendent.

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