You are the roast beef I have purchased
and I stuff you with my very own onion.

You are a boat I have rented by the hour
and I steer you with my rage until you run aground.

You are a glass that I have paid to shatter
and I swallow the pieces down with my spit.

You are the grate I warm my trembling hands on,
searing the flesh until it’s nice and juicy.

You stink like my Mama under your bra
and I vomit into your hand like a jackpot
its cold hard quarters.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Anne Sexton's poem Buying The Whore

12 Comments

  1. Duke says:

    This poem is so true
    buying a whore is degrates both the man and women
    Wanna grab lunch?

  2. JaQuar says:

    Damn this white chick be gettin raped by a fellow nigga

  3. Vasiliy says:

    I can’t believe I have to do a report on this woman, poetry scares me enough as it is but this stuff TERRIFIES me!!!

  4. islander says:

    how wonderful is this poem and how it describes the miserability of human condition, specially whores when they are submitted to evil….

  5. more says:

    I can’t understand the last sentence.Who can explain it for me?

  6. Linnea says:

    jasmine from United States; it sounds to me like you don’t have the strong stomach required to enjoy confessional poetry.
    I agree completely with Mack from United Kingdom, and have nothing to add since he said it all already.

  7. Mack says:

    This doesn’t only speak of the pain of a man buying the whore.
    It’s a commentary on the mutual degradation.

    “You are a glass that I have paid to shatter”

    This speaks of the man degrading the whore.

    “and I swallow the pieces down with my spit.”

    This tells of how in the process of degradation the man destroys himself as anyone who has swallowed glass can tell you.

    I would even posit that it refers in a more general sense to relationships between man and woman or indeed any relationship with an uneven power structure.

    Brilliant, really.

  8. jasmine says:

    oh my god this poem was ok i think it was kind of nasty i really dont understand why a person would write a poem like this but i did kind of like it

  9. Kristin says:

    this poem rocks

  10. juan says:

    I enjoyed the notion of vomiting cash to pay for a the services of a whore. I agree that is a painful process for a man to have pay for the companionship of a woman.

  11. stef says:

    i LOVE this poem. like nicole said–its very truthful. i love this poet as well. im doing a report on her in school right now.

  12. Nicole says:

    I think that “buying the whore” is a wonderful poem. It describes in and essance exactly what a whore is “bought” for and their use. To me it is a poem of hate and of pitty, and it is wonderful.

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