Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Anne Sexton’s poem "Where I Live in This Honorable House of the Laurel Tree" is a poignant and reflective exploration of transformation, loss, and the longing for connection with the divine. Through the lens of myth, specifically the story of Daphne and Apollo, Sexton delves into the complex emotions of a speaker who has been transformed into a laurel tree, capturing the tension between the desire for freedom and the inescapable bond with the past. The poem resonates with themes of unfulfilled desire, the passage of time, and the burdens of honor and legacy.

The poem begins with the speaker declaring, "I live in my wooden legs and O / my green green hands," immediately establishing the speaker’s identity as one who has been physically transformed into a tree. This transformation, rooted in the myth of Daphne, who was turned into a laurel tree to escape Apollo’s pursuit, serves as a metaphor for the speaker’s own sense of entrapment and altered existence. The repetition of "green green hands" emphasizes the natural, almost alien quality of the speaker’s new form, highlighting the disconnection from her former self.

The speaker’s lament, "Too late / to wish I had not run from you, Apollo," reflects a deep regret and resignation. The phrase "too late" suggests that the speaker has come to terms with her fate, recognizing that the choices made in the past are irreversible. The mention of Apollo, the god of the sun and of prophecy, introduces a powerful figure who represents both the unattainable and the divine, someone the speaker once fled from but now seems to long for.

The speaker acknowledges the lingering vitality within her transformed body: "blood moves still in my bark bound veins." This line underscores the paradox of her existence—though she has been turned into a tree, a symbol of rootedness and stasis, there is still a pulse of life within her. This internal movement contrasts sharply with the external rigidity of her wooden form, highlighting the tension between her desire for life and the reality of her transformation.

The speaker, who "ran nymph foot to root in flight," reflects on her past with a sense of melancholy. The transformation into a tree, initially an act of escape, has now become a prison of sorts, where the speaker is bound to the earth, unable to return to her former state. The "late desire to arm the trees / I lie within" suggests a wish to protect or empower the very form that now confines her, indicating a complex relationship with her own identity and the changes she has undergone.

The poem’s middle section delves into the pain of lost potential and unfulfilled desires: "The measure that I have lost / silks my pulse. Each century the trickeries / of need pain me everywhere." The "measure" lost refers to the time and experiences that the speaker can no longer access, now that she is bound to the form of a tree. The "trickeries of need" speak to the persistent, yet ultimately futile, desires that haunt her, as if these needs are both inevitable and unattainable, causing pain and frustration throughout the centuries of her existence.

The image of "Frost taps my skin and I stay glossed / in honor for you are gone in time" captures the speaker’s enduring connection to Apollo, even as time has passed and he is no longer present. The frost, a symbol of coldness and stillness, contrasts with the idea of staying "glossed in honor," suggesting that the speaker remains preserved in a state of reverence or obligation, despite the absence of the one she once fled from. The phrase "you are gone in time" underscores the passage of time and the distance that has grown between the speaker and Apollo, further intensifying her sense of isolation.

The speaker’s reflection on her "untimely lust" that "has tossed / flesh at the wind forever" conveys a sense of loss and regret over her desires that have never been fulfilled. This unfulfilled longing has left her "spill[ing] toward the stars in the empty years," an image that captures the eternal, yet futile, reach for something beyond her grasp. The "empty years" suggest a life lived in stasis, with no progression or satisfaction, only the lingering ache of what could have been.

The poem concludes with a poignant admission of the burden of honor: "You gave me honor too soon, Apollo. / There is no one left who understands / how I wait / here in my wooden legs and O / my green green hands." The "honor" bestowed by Apollo—symbolized by the transformation into the laurel tree, a sacred symbol in Greek mythology—has become a source of isolation for the speaker. While the honor was meant to preserve her, it has also trapped her in a form that separates her from the rest of the world. The repeated reference to her "wooden legs" and "green green hands" at the end of the poem underscores her sense of being caught between two worlds: the human and the natural, the past and the present.

In "Where I Live in This Honorable House of the Laurel Tree," Anne Sexton explores the themes of transformation, regret, and the passage of time through the lens of myth. The poem’s speaker, forever bound to the form of a tree, reflects on the choices that led to her current state and the complex emotions that arise from her unfulfilled desires and her inescapable connection to the divine. Sexton’s use of rich, symbolic language and the interplay between the human and the natural worlds create a powerful meditation on the nature of identity, the burdens of honor, and the longing for something lost to time.

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