Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Anne Sexton’s poem "The Wedding Night" is a poignant exploration of loss, memory, and the fleeting nature of beauty and love. Through the vivid imagery of magnolia blossoms and the personal recollection of a past relationship, Sexton captures the bittersweet emotions that accompany the end of a love affair, drawing parallels between the transient beauty of nature and the ephemeral nature of human connections.

The poem begins with a recollection of a "short celebration" in Boston, a moment of fleeting joy that quickly fades. This celebration, though brief, leaves a lasting impression on the speaker, who walks down Marlborough Street after the person she loves has left. The description of the branches as "tedious as leather" and "stiff as drivers' gloves" suggests a sense of rigidity and lifelessness, mirroring the emotional numbness the speaker feels in the absence of her lover. The reference to the magnolia blossoms, with their "southern sound," introduces a contrast between the cold, stiff atmosphere of Boston and the warmth and vibrancy often associated with the South. The blossoms, like the relationship, are beautiful but out of place, their brief bloom "unbelievable" and "pinned on," as if they are not meant to last.

Sexton uses the magnolias as a central metaphor for the relationship, comparing their buds to a "twelve-year-old flower girl" at a wedding. This comparison evokes a sense of innocence and anticipation, the buds representing potential and promise, yet still tightly closed, "sure-bodied" and "not flawed." The speaker’s memory of walking under these blossoms "toward you" suggests a moment of hope and connection, as if the magnolias, like the relationship, were waiting to blossom into something beautiful. The question "Will they bend?" hints at the fragility of this hope, as the speaker wonders if the blossoms—and by extension, the relationship—will open up or remain closed off, unyielding.

The poem then shifts to a night in April when "someone (someone!) kicked each bud open," an act that is both violent and transformative. The buds, once closed and polished "as gull beaks," are forced to open prematurely, becoming "hot-colored, moist, not flawed in fact." This sudden, forceful opening represents a disruption, a breaking of the natural order that leaves the magnolias exposed and vulnerable. The blossoms, once "tense" and hidden, now "flare up" like "flags, gaudy, chafing in the wind," a display of abandonment and excess that contrasts sharply with their previous state of restraint. The transformation of the magnolias mirrors the emotional upheaval the speaker experiences, as the controlled, guarded nature of the relationship gives way to a raw, uncontrolled display of emotion.

As the poem nears its conclusion, Sexton draws a direct comparison between the loss of the magnolias and the loss of the relationship. The speaker finds herself unable to distinguish "between losing you / and losing them," as both the relationship and the blossoms "drop separately after the celebration, / handpicked, / one after the other like artichoke leaves." The imagery of the blossoms falling one by one, like artichoke leaves, suggests a gradual unraveling, a slow and painful disintegration that parallels the end of the love affair. The speaker’s awkward walk to her car, stepping over the "painful bare remains" of the blossoms, reflects the emotional difficulty of moving on from the relationship, knowing that "someone had, in one night, / passed roughly through, / and before it was time."

"The Wedding Night" is a deeply reflective and evocative poem that uses the metaphor of magnolia blossoms to explore the themes of loss and the impermanence of love. Sexton’s imagery is rich and layered, capturing the beauty and fragility of both the natural world and human relationships. The poem’s structure, which moves from the anticipation and hope of the buds to the sudden, violent blossoming and eventual decay, mirrors the arc of the relationship, from its beginnings to its inevitable end. Through this exploration, Sexton captures the deep emotional resonance of loss, highlighting the way in which the beauty of love, like the magnolias, is fleeting and often ends before we are ready to let go.

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