Living In Sin - A poem by Adrienne Rich

Adrienne Rich - Living In Sin

She had thought the studio would keep itself;
no dust upon the furniture of love.
Half heresy, to wish the taps less vocal,
the panes relieved of grime. A plate of pears,
a piano with a Persian shawl, a cat
stalking the picturesque amusing mouse
had risen at his urging.
Not that at five each separate stair would writhe
under the milkman's tramp; that morning light
so coldly would delineate the scraps
of last night's cheese and three sepulchral bottles;
that on the kitchen shelf amoong the saucers
a pair of beetle-eyes would fix her own--
envoy from some village in the moldings...
Meanwhile, he, with a yawn,
sounded a dozen notes upon the keyboard,
declared it out of tune, shrugged at the mirror,
rubbed at his beard, went out for cigarettes;
while she, jeered by the minor demons,
pulled back the sheets and made the bed and found
a towel to dust the table-top,
and let the coffee-pot boil over on the stove.
By evening she was back in love again,
though not so wholly but throughout the night
she woke sometimes to feel the daylight coming
like a relentless milkman up the stairs.

Added: on November 7th, 2005 at 10:50 PM | Viewed: 29552 times | Comments and analysis of Living In Sin by Adrienne Rich Comments (16)

Living In Sin - Comments and Information
Poet: Adrienne Rich Poem: Living In Sin Year: Published/Written in 1955 Comment 16 of 16, added on April 25th, 2006 at 10:18 AM. Every critical reader may see the imagery and diction in the words of Rich that enables the reader to see the woman as the wretch in a life of irresistible passion but the surface of the poem, including its symbols, says more to the reader than over analyzing the space between the lines. The women is the milk, the guy is the milkman. The milk always comes when expected. The milk is always available. The milkman doesn't have to do anything exciting to get the milk. The milkman doesn't have to buy to the cow to get the milk. This milkman gets his milk from a source that works like a machine that gives him milk when he says "come." The girl is the "amusing mouse"; the guy is the cat. The mouse is amused by the chase; the guy chases the mouse by "his urging." This poem is about woman with a possible Christian background that enjoys her routine life of sinful passion rather than a routine life of pure loneliness. ~lovely~ from United States Comment 15 of 16, added on February 22nd, 2006 at 5:15 PM. The poem is a collection of broken pictures--broken syntactically or psychologically. Putting them together is to find out the nature of this relationship. The "sin" is this sort of futile forward momentum they both are caught up in. The milkman is the coming day or just anothera lover who might bring the same to the relationship with her as the present one does. A very depressing piece of aart this! from United States Comment 14 of 16, added on November 7th, 2005 at 10:50 PM. This poem was great. I loved the topic. fadi shaya from United States More Comments >> Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, Living In Sin, has received 16 comments. Click here to read them, and perhaps post a comment of your own. Of course you can also always discuss poems by Adrienne Rich with others on the American Poems poetry forum!

Poem Info
Poet: Adrienne Rich Poem: Living In Sin Year: Published/Written in 1955 Last read: May 9 2008, 4:58PM Viewed 29552 times. Added on November 7th, 2005 at 10:50 PM.

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