Comment 17 of 38, added on November 26th, 2007 at 9:03 PM.

Interesting comments about what the wreck stands for. Personally, I
interpreted as the past.

Nicole from United States

Comment 15 of 38, added on April 25th, 2007 at 4:37 AM.

What a great piece of work! I haven't read this since college, and it's
better than I remember it--Paul Volponi

paul volponi

Comment 13 of 38, added on March 27th, 2006 at 3:31 PM.

I think that there is an unfortunate tendency among poetry readers to view
a writer’s work within the narrow prism of what the reader knows about the
writer’s personal life. I think that this approach may be useful in
deciphering the meaning of poems written by relatively inexperienced poets,
but it makes no sense in analyzing this work, which was completed by one of
our country’s most penetrating and accomplished writers.

Rich is not talking about strictly personal issues (marriage, suicide,
etc.) in this poem; rather, she is thoughtfully and deliberately talking
about the wreckage of our society and the need to go beyond myth (the STORY
of the wreck) so that we can assess the damage actually being caused by our
social structures, as well as recognize the treasures contained within
them. Only by doing so can we correct serious social problems and
simultaneously retain those social norms that are healthy and productive.

Rich takes us on this voyage as a genderless being early in the work,
pointing to a concern about gender-based social definitions, among others,
in the poem. By the end of the piece, she expands her view beyond gender
and addresses the reader as both an individual and part of a collective
whole, directing us to look at the wreck of our society so we can
(presumably) change its course. In the last line, our names do not appear
in the book of myths because the pervasive, patriarchal and limited views
of our society contained in such a book does not match the reality of
individual lives.


Patrice Kapur

Comment 11 of 38, added on November 27th, 2005 at 11:39 PM.

I'm dwelling on single phrases: "The words are purposes./The words are
maps." Words ARE purposes and maps. They are intentions we have toward each
other, whether we are aware of those intentions or not; they are ways
toward and away from each other. This is such a brilliant and beautiful
poem, one of Rich's best. (The other great one for me is "Splitting.")

There is deep sadness here, and a sense of being broken by a life that is
much more powerful and vaster than our intentions had led us to believe
when we thought we could set goals and reach them. So what can we do? Throw
away the myths and seek what treasure remains in the devastation of our
dreams. And the treasure is there, obscured, but there. The fact that the
book of myths will remain, but our names will not appear in it is very
hopeful.

Eloise from United States

Comment 9 of 38, added on September 26th, 2005 at 2:06 AM.

I thought that this poem was interesting. I studied this poem for my
literature class the more we analysed it the more interesting the poem was.
I thought that using am ocean and diving into the ocean was a clever
metaphore. The book if Myths at the start are ironic to what happens
however I believe that the book is Adrienne's to her life.

Marie from Australia