3/30/14

Night Poem

Margaret Atwood

There is nothing to be afraid of,

it is only the wind
changing to the east, it is only
your father          the thunder
your mother          the rain

In this country of water
with its beige moon damp as a mushroom,
its drowned stumps and long birds
that swim, where the moss grows
on all sides of the trees
and your shadow is not your shadow
but your reflection,

your true parents disappear
when the curtain covers your door.
We are the others,
the ones from under the lake
who stand silently beside your bed
with our heads of darkness.
We have come to cover you
with red wool,
with our tears and distant whispers.

You rock in the rain's arms,
the chilly ark of your sleep,
while we wait, your night
father and mother,
with our cold hands and dead flashlight,
knowing we are only
the wavering shadows thrown
by one candle, in this echo
you will hear twenty years later. 

  I am starting to love Margaret Atwood's poetry. I never heard of her before I stumbled upon her poetry a few months ago. My favorite kind of poetry is dark poetry that is weird, different, and eerie. The poems I have read by her have fit these descriptions so far. For this month, I decided to analyze Night Poem. 

   The title itself leads the reader to believe that the poem will be dark and eerie. The word "night" connotates to many things.  During the night, creatures come out that would not normally show themselves in the day. It is hard to see at night so images and objects are distorted and can be mistaken for something else. The first line in the poem creates a sense that something not right is  happening. Personally, when I hear someone say "there is nothing to be afraid of" then there is most likely something to be afraid of. Especially when a person comes out of the darkness of the night saying everything is ok. Whoever the speaker is seems untrustworthy.  The speaker says it is only the "wind changing to the east" and the father which is thunder and the mother which is rain. The wind is changing its direction. This means that the wind could be unstable or the wind could be taking a new path. The father is thunder which is loud and strong. The mother is rain which can be light and cleansing or can be violent and harmful depending on the storm. These parents of the night are intertwined with nature. Meaning that nature can come to live at night. 
   The next stanza discusses all of nature. Nature seems to have a saggy or sullen mood. The moon is "beige". It does not glow a bright white like one would think of the moon. It resembles a "damp..mushroom".  Nature takes on more creature like qualities during the night. One of my favorite lines in this poem is "and your shadow is not your shadow but your reflection". Such a great line! This implies that people are their shadows. People have both positive qualities during the daylight and negative qualities during the night. A shadow self is a negative energy that is completely opposite of a person. Yet the speaker is saying that this shadow is the reflection. You are who you are bad qualities and all. This all becomes evident  at night.
  The next stanza is equally creepy and equally awesome. The speaker is saying that they are the new parents. They are the parents that appear when you shut your door at night. When you are locked alone in your room, they come out to stare at you.  They come from under the lake which means that they are damp and soggy. They probably look like they were dragged from the lake. They cover the child with "red wool". Red stands for violence and blood. Personally I find wool to be itchy and uncomfortable, so this piece of fabric is not comfortable or pleasant. The new parents cover the child with whispers and tears. Everything looks perfect during the day, but during the night, the real issues and problems emerge from the darkness. "You will rock in the rain's arms" means that the child will be rocked by his night mother. The child's night parents wait and watch. They have a "dead flashlight" which means they have no light to see. This could men that the night parents are not enlightened. They are blinded by the darkness. They cannot truly see the child they hold. However, they know that they are only shadows. They cannot be seen in the full sunlight. They can only be seen with one candle light. They lurk in the shadows wanting what they cannot have. Nature itself must want to consume the child at night to have for its own. Nature cannot have the child during the day in the light. At night, nature becomes distorted and people become their shadow selfs. Their negative qualities are reflected just as nature's negative qualities are reflected.