Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

The poem begins with the speaker observing a woman swimming beneath the surface of a canal, her "powerful body shimmering, / Opalescent, her black hair wavering / Like weeds." The description of the woman's body as "opalescent" evokes a sense of otherworldly beauty, while the image of her hair "wavering like weeds" suggests a connection to the natural world, yet with a hint of something untamed or dangerous. The fact that the woman "does not need to breathe" sets her apart from the realm of the ordinary, marking her as a figure who exists outside the bounds of normal human experience.

As the woman swims alongside the speaker's rented canoe, the scene is set against the backdrop of a peaceful day: "Sweet, thick, white, the blossoms of the locust trees / Cast their fragrance. A redwing blackbird flies / Across the sluggish water. My children paddle." The tranquility of this moment is sharply contrasted with the eerie presence of the woman beneath the water, hinting at the tension between the surface calm and the hidden depths of the speaker's imagination or fears.

The poem takes a darker turn as the speaker contemplates what would happen if she and the woman were to switch places: "If I dive down, if she climbs into the boat, / Wet, wordless, she will strangle my children / And throw their limp bodies into the stream." The abruptness of this violent fantasy shocks the reader, revealing the speaker's deep-seated anxieties and fears. The woman's transformation from a mysterious, alluring figure to a malevolent force suggests the speaker's fear of losing control over her life and her loved ones.

The fantasy continues with the woman taking the speaker's place in her home: "Skin dripping, she will take my car, drive home. / When my husband answers the doorbell and sees / This magnificent naked woman, bits of sunlight / Glittering on her pubic fur, her muscular / Arm will surround his neck, once for each insult / Endured." The image of the woman confronting the speaker's husband, "magnificent" and naked, with "bits of sunlight / Glittering on her pubic fur," is both sensual and menacing. The woman's muscular arm encircling the husband's neck suggests a reckoning, a punishment for past wrongs or slights, real or imagined.

The final lines of the poem bring the fantasy to a close: "He will see the blackbird in her eye, / Her drying mouth incapable of speech, / And I, having exchanged with her, will swim / Away, in the cool water, out of reach." The blackbird, which appeared earlier as a symbol of the natural world, now becomes a part of the woman's gaze, perhaps representing freedom, wildness, or a connection to something beyond the ordinary. The woman's "drying mouth incapable of speech" hints at a loss of identity or power in the act of exchange, as if taking on the speaker's life has rendered her mute.

The speaker's final act of swimming away, "in the cool water, out of reach," suggests a desire for escape, for liberation from the constraints of her current life. The water, a recurring motif in the poem, symbolizes both the unknown and the possibility of transformation. By exchanging places with the woman, the speaker envisions a release from her responsibilities and the emotional burdens she carries, but this escape is tinged with ambiguity and unease.

"The Exchange" is a haunting exploration of the darker aspects of the self, the fantasies of escape, and the fear of what lies beneath the surface of everyday life. Ostriker's use of surreal imagery and the blending of reality with fantasy create a powerful narrative that captures the complexities of desire, identity, and the human psyche. The poem invites the reader to confront their own fears and the ways in which they might wish to escape or transform their lives, even as it warns of the potential consequences of such desires.

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