Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Anne Sexton's "All My Pretty Ones" is a poignant exploration of grief, memory, and the complex relationship between a daughter and her father. The poem is both an elegy and a confrontation, as Sexton sifts through the remnants of her father's life after his death, attempting to make sense of the man he was and the legacy he left behind. The title, reminiscent of Macbeth's lament for his lost children, sets the tone for a meditation on loss and the inevitable passage of time.

The poem opens with a direct address to the speaker’s father, acknowledging the profound sense of separation that has been inflicted by his death: "Father, this year's jinx rides us apart." The word "jinx" suggests a curse or a series of unfortunate events, implying that the father’s death is part of a larger, uncontrollable force. The speaker then alludes to the father’s following of the mother into "cold slumber," which likely refers to the mother’s earlier death. The "second shock" that strikes the father’s heart leads to his own death, leaving the speaker alone to manage the practical and emotional aftermath.

As the speaker sorts through her father’s belongings, the poem shifts from abstract reflections on death to concrete images of the father’s possessions: "a gold key, your half of a woolen mill, / twenty suits from Dunne's, an English Ford." These items symbolize the father's material legacy, yet they are also reminders of his absence and the life he led. The speaker is left to "shuffle and disencumber" these objects, a task that underscores the burden of dealing with the physical remnants of a life that has ended.

The boxes of photographs are particularly evocative, as they contain "cardboard faces" of people the speaker does not know. The photographs, with their "eyes, as thick as wood," hold the speaker's attention momentarily, but she ultimately decides to "lock them into their book and throw them out." This act of discarding the past suggests a desire to move forward, to not be weighed down by memories that no longer have clear meaning or relevance. Yet, there is also a sense of loss in this decision, as the faces in the photographs represent connections and histories that are now lost forever.

The poem then shifts to the "yellow scrapbook" that the father began the year the speaker was born. This scrapbook, now "crackling" and "wrinkly," contains clippings and memories from the father's life, from political events like Hoover's election to personal milestones like the family's involvement in the war. The speaker reflects on her father’s life, including his "alcoholic tendency" and his plans to marry a "pretty widow" before his sudden death. The speaker’s grief is palpable as she recounts crying on her father’s shoulder just three days before he died, a moment of vulnerability and connection that is now irrevocably lost.

The snapshots of the father’s marriage capture moments of happiness and success, yet they are tinged with a sense of melancholy as the speaker realizes that these images are all that remain of a life that was complicated and ultimately tragic. The father is described in both affectionate and critical terms: "my drunkard, my navigator, / my first lost keeper." These lines reveal the speaker’s conflicting emotions toward her father, acknowledging both the love and the pain he caused.

The poem concludes with the speaker holding a diary that her mother kept for three years, documenting the "hurly-burly years" of the family’s life. The diary reveals the mother’s awareness of the father’s alcoholism and the toll it took on the family. The speaker contemplates whether she will inherit her father’s tendencies, particularly his habit of drinking on Christmas Day. The poem ends on a note of reconciliation, as the speaker bends down to her father’s "strange face" and forgives him, despite the pain he caused.

"All My Pretty Ones" is a deeply personal and emotional poem that captures the complexities of familial love and loss. Sexton’s use of vivid imagery and direct address creates an intimate connection between the speaker and the reader, allowing us to feel the weight of the speaker’s grief and the difficult process of coming to terms with the past. The poem’s final lines, with their emphasis on forgiveness and the passage of time, suggest a resolution to the speaker’s struggle, even as the memories of her father continue to linger.

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