-
Essay / Analysis of James Wright's Search for Light
For example, Wright's “Lying in a Hammock” ends with the sudden realization that “I've wasted my life.” (13). This ending in the poem is extremely inappropriate since the rest of the poem consisted of a positive tone. Wright added all the images at the beginning to emphasize the last line even more. Geoffrey H. Hartman clearly discusses the effect of why Wright added the full stop at the end of the poem in "From Beyond the Middle Style" in James Wright: The Heart of the Light by Peter Stit and Frank Granziano; he says: “The last line is a challenge, not a moralism. It is supposed to be one impression among others: we have images and we have thoughts; here's a thought. »(141). The last line was just a “thought” and allows readers to access Wright’s mind. Wright was just relaxing on a hammock and couldn't even make it through the day without a negative thought popping into his head. Many people suffering from a mental illness, such as depression or anxiety, can relate to this idea, and Wright used the end point effectively to show how quickly a person's day can change. The enjambment used in Wright's "Fear Is What Quickens Me" shows the poet slowly deteriorating into this wild animal. In the second stanza, Wright states, "I hear rabbits and mourning doves whispering together / In the dark grass there / Under the trees." » (12-14). This particular enjambment continues