Your Invitation to a Modest Breakfast by Hannah Gamble
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/56059 In this poem, Hannah Gamble uses figurative language to describe sexual desires. She has very subtle ways on making simple encounters seem sexual and in a way forced. The sexual innuendos give a sense of yearning that could be stemming from a lack of sexual intimacy in the author's life. The whole poem dances around sexual ideas except for the last two sentences of the first stanza that talks about the beautiful climbing plant, which I cannot figure out how to piece into the poem. The end of the middle of the poem talks about her need for more than two hands and and one mouth to make and finish breakfast, essentially another body. Hannah Gamble describes “the man in the bakery who eats egg after egg after egg,” which is just gorging and not slowing down to savor the taste or even enjoy the eggs. This further exemplifies the “gorging” aspect of some people’s sexual desires. The man described as in “every love scene” says to the woman “open your mouth,” which is altogether rude and too abrupt to be conceived as an endearing act. It seems as though the woman of this poem romanticizes everything a man does towards her, whether it be degrading or disrespectful. Hinting at the underlying sexual meanings, as a woman I personally would never give in to the sexist and forceful acts described. I found it interesting that the author describes wind chimes, which are typically symbolic of peaceful, calm times, as “some gray woman with failing arms dropping a pan full of onions and potatoes.” It gives a harsh feeling towards the morning in the poem and can even be argued that they “gray woman” is not old as one might think off the bat, but actually depressed and seemingly gray. This gray woman could be a subset of the author’s feelings or just a metaphorical sense of what unhealthy physical relationships can do to a person.
2 Comments
Hannah
2/3/2017 02:26:47 pm
This poem is pretty vague and I also don't understand the meaning of many elements, and they could be interpreted a variety of ways. I agree that they are obviously sexual in some way. I interpreted the meaning of the as poem speakers frustration with relationships and how men treat women. She has a feeling of isolation and confusion from men but also wants a sexual relationship. To me, i understood the "cold" of the outside world to be what she describes as lots of men being perverted and only wanting to "gorge" themselves with women, with the examples of men in the poem having rapist vibes. She contrasts the outside world with the inside of her house, where she invites someone to come inside and help her do things that might be inuendos. I agree that there's an uncomfortable forcedness about the inuendos in these normal daily actions. She wants someone to love, but at the same time is discouraged by creepy men, or at least that's how I interpreted the line "the cold has already eaten the summer." With the oart about the wind chimes, I'm not sure what it means or why it's so specific. I read that to mean she hears a noise and can't tell if it's wind chimes or a woman dropping a pan, and wants someone to help tell her what it is- which is a weird way of saying it but I think she's asking for help making sense of the world. But then, once again reminds herself that the world is "cold" and men treat her like an object, stated in the lines "Outside there’s a world where every love scene
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Austin
3/8/2017 08:05:30 am
I agree with the deeper sexual meaning of everything in this poem. It seems like the author is almost searching for the desires in everyday things. You have a really great analysis, I'd love the read more! (:
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AuthorI am Ashlyn BLUEberry and welcome to my literary thoughts. |