A thousand doors ago
when I was a lonely kid
in a big house with four
garages and it was summer
as long as I could remember,
I lay on the lawn at night,
clover wrinkling over me,
the wise stars bedding over me,
my mother’s window a funnel
of yellow heat running out,
my father’s window, half shut,
an eye where sleepers pass,
and the boards of the house
were smooth and white as wax
and probably a million leaves
sailed on their strange stalks
as the crickets ticked together
and I, in my brand new body,
which was not a woman’s yet,
told the stars my questions
and thought God could really see
the heat and the painted light,
elbows, knees, dreams, goodnight.
Young
Analysis, meaning and summary of Anne Sexton's poem Young
27 Comments
Leave a Reply
Do you have any comments, criticism, paraphrasis or analysis of this poem that you feel would assist other visitors in understanding the meaning or the theme of this poem by Anne Sexton better? If accepted, your analysis will be added to this page of American Poems. Together we can build a wealth of information, but it will take some discipline and determination.
I think that this poem was written by a women that was thinking back to when she was young…and she wrote about her thoughts while she lay on the ground…
I think this poem was written when the girl was grown up, she is remembering her summer.At this time the girl is not quite a woman but is no longer a child. She is rich and probably the only child b/c she said a lonely kid in a big house. The light coming out of her mother’s window symbolizes a warm relationship, however the half shut window symbolizes a mystery that her father is to her. And “an eye where sleeper pass” that her father keeps to himself. Thoough she has a warm relationship with her mother, she does not trust her b/c her question and thought are expressed to the stars.
Hope this is right b/c i have to interpret it next class.
that its about her first time masterbateing
Lines- explanation
1. many years ago
2. her parents had died, she was lonely
3-4. the girl was wealthy but lonely without her parents to love her
5-7. she had always laid outside at night watching the sky on top of the ground and grass
8. stars all around her
9-10. the lack of light in her mothers room tells that her mother’s death caused their strong relationship to become weak
11. the window to the bedroom was half shut resembling an eye
12. nobody slept in the bedroom after her parents had passed
13-14. the boards of the house were bright white
15-16. the leaves on the trees swayed representing calmness
17. the crickets chirping together was the only sound in the night
18-19. she is maturing and growing up by herself without anyone to raise her
20. she laid beneath the stars and prayed
21-22. she thought God was taking care of her parents in Heaven
21&23. she thought God was watching out for her and listening to her prayers before she went to bed
with all of my research i believe that to be correct but there is always room for opinion
This poem is a wonderful piece of reflective art that has universal appeal. How can those of us who had a less than perfect childhood, fail to empathise with this poem. In the poem Sexton shows how her trust, reliance and support in those days could only be within nature. She turns to nature in this poem in the way that she should have been able to turn to her parents. It is very well-written with an indirect theme : childhood/adolescent instability.
This is what the meaning of this poem is I believe
A thousand doors ago-so like before she had opened a thousand doors, a long time ago-
when i was a lonely kid- and only child-
in a bighouse with four
garages and it was summer
as long as I rmember- so she was rich and it seemed like the perfect home from the ooutside-
I lay on the lawn at night
clovers wrinkling under me- she is outside at night-
my mother’s window a funnel
of yellow heat running out- so in the dark when there is a light on, you can see the rays coming out of the window, and im guessing it means that hers and her mothers relationship was a storng one-
my fathers window, half shut
an eye where sleepers pass- so he’s already alsleep, and im guessing her parents dont sleep in the same room, he father stays a mistery to her-
and the boards of the house
were smooth and white as wax- just the moon light on the house peaceful-
and probabley a million leaves
sailed by on their starange stalks- uhm this is one i never understood much, but i think its talking about her friends-
as the crickets ticked together- so peaceful night-
and I in my brand new body,
which was not yet a womens- so she young like 12 or 13-
told my questions to the stars- so i guess she is like praying :S-
and thought god could really see
the heat and painted light- so i guess believeing that even god could see though her family perfect family portrate-
elbows, knees, dreams, goodnight- so im guessing falling asleep-
well i had a lot of trouble with that poem and if i got it wrong polease correct me, but i know that if there had have been an explanation like this ofr the poem, i would have kissed the persons feet, so your welcome and please correct what ever i missunderstood
I agree and think that she is relating the poem to her childhood.It is siad that she always felt that her parents never wanted her. They also died of disease when she was young. I think that the poem relates to her relationship with her parents when she was young.
well all you love out their listen to this. here I go
It seem like every thing is change when some one walk in the room. you pass me, by I had to take a look from the side. then you caugth me with those sexy eyes. I to say some thing to you. all night, I won’t show you around my town. give me your number so we can talk. she said why so we can get little more person. I talk her at 7:00 p.m. we talk all night. then I set a date for tomorrow at a place nice.then I pick her up and her brilliant color blind my eyes and I had to just stop then look at you again wondering how did I meet beautiful girl like you one who bring fun in to my life the I can trust to love me right she have a way of show love in a lot of place it seem like she passion about me because she just won’t stop talking about me when she only a few hours from me can’t do thing right. It the same way with me. I can’t go with out her it no long a problem when she can’t stop love me. it seem like the whole night that we talk about each other but the night had to end. I said bye and she got out the car, call you tomorrow bye
Notice, this poem is spoken in one breath with no periods or spaces between stanzas. One breath. Like that one quick breath of being young. You inhale, you exhale, and its over. Think about it.
I didn’t like this poem. While it is asthetically pleasing i thought that there were several important issues with it. Firstly its overly sentimental and depends heavily for its affect on the tugging of heart strings and middle america nostalgia. Secondly its themes are alittle hackneyed and thirdly its just a slice of americana with nothing to say about many of the realities of life faced by most real people in the real world.
This is one of the loveliest poems ever writen. Our youth becomes preciouse only after it has become just a memory. Time flies. It’s so much in our memories that allow us to keep our lives filled with beauty and meaning. I’m with her, this young girl, lying on the grass at dusk. I feel her words as though it were my own memory from youth. Reading this poem is like returning to my youth on the breath of a daydream on the crest of a cool summer breeze. Ann Sexton, I never knew you, but I loved you. I carry this poem in my wallet. M
i thought this peom really blew b/c i have no idea what it means and i have to write a friggen paper on it describing it w/ 1)to kill a mockingbird 2)ethan frome 3)the crucible 4)of mice and men. I have to do the paper describing two of the books.
I could be entirely wrong, but I always saw the “yellow funnel of light” that she speaks of to be symbolic of her relationship with her mother. There are two windows: her mother’s and her father’s. She describes her mother’s window with warmth, and then in the following two lines she writes that her father’s was “half shut,an eye where sleepers pass”. Her descriptions of the windows reflect her feelings toward her parents. I hope that this helped!
ps- this poem has been one of my favorites for a long time, and with the onset of summer, “I Remember” is a fun one too :).
This poem helped me understand myself. The first time I read it was the other day in class, I thought it was going to be just another stupid poem, but it really spoke to me. Although my interpretation may be different from other people’s, it still works. Anne Sexton is now one of my favorite poets.
What does the funnel of yellow heat running out mean?
I really enjoyed this poem but i didnt quite get it. If her parents died when she was young why is there light coming from her mothers and fathers room?
I think that this poem symbolizes a young woman growing up and watching the changes that were taking place. Her parents also died when she was young, so she was also dealing with that. Jer questions were left up to God, as the memory of summer surrounded her.
I really wish someone could explain it!
i read this poem in class and i like it a lot
It is such a nice and beautiful poem.