Hello and welcome to the Discourse. ‘Imitations of Drowning’ is a poem by Anne Sexton from her Pulitzer Prize-winning poetic collection 'Live or Die' published in 1966. She was a confessional poet who raised concerns related to her bipolar disorder, suicidal tendencies, and intimate details from her private life in her poetry. In 'Imitations of Drowning', Sexton used drowning as a metaphor to symbolize the fear individuals face while dealing with troubles in their lives. The speaker mentions the futility of trying to escape this fear and says that the fear tends to push individuals into isolation, a loneliness that may prove to be worse than death. In her poem ‘Wanting to Die’, Sexton glorifies her desire to embrace death but in this poem, she offers a sharp contrast while expressing her fear of death and how it is drowning her.
Structure of Imitations of Drowning:
The 56-line poem is set in 7 stanzas of 8 lines each (Octaves). The poem is written in free verse and hence there is no strict definite meter or rhyming scheme though there is a hint of slanting rhyme. The poet has used metaphors, symbolism, imagery, caesura, enjambment, and assonance in the poem. It is a confessional verse written in first person narrative style and the speaker is the poet herself, expressing her emotions.
Summary of Imitations of Drowning:
Stanza 1 Lines 1-8
“Fear
of drowning,
fear of being that alone,
kept me busy making a deal
as if I could buy
my way out of it
and it worked for two years
and all of July.”
The poem starts with the speaker saying she's afraid of drowning, and it's been on her mind a lot. She's tried to bargain with the fear to make it go away, but it didn't work. The phrase "fear of being that alone" suggests that the fear of drowning is not just a physical threat but also a profound isolation, a loneliness so intense that it's like death itself. Sexton shows how pointless it is to try to escape this fear. The speaker admits that her efforts worked for a while, but only "for two years and all of July." The limited-time shows that she can't avoid facing the fear forever, and she needs to confront the fear head-on.
Stanza 2 Lines 9-16
“This August I began to dream of drowning. The dying
went on and on in water as white and clear
as the gin I drink each day at half-past five.
Going down for the last time, the last breath lying,
I grapple with eels like ropes - it's ether, it's queer
and then, at last, it's done. Now the scavengers arrive,
the hard crawlers who come to clean up the ocean floor.
And death, that old butcher, will bother me no more.”
In August, the speaker begins to have vivid dreams of drowning. The water in the dream is "white and clear as the gin I drink every day at half past five," suggesting a daily coping ritual. The drowning is a slow, inevitable descent, where the speaker struggles with "eels like ropes," a nightmarish image that blurs the line between reality and surrealism. The speaker's mind is a place where the mundane and terrifying merge. The speaker is at once drowning in a dream and drinking gin in reality, and the lines between the two blur. the speaker describes the act of drowning as a slow, inevitable descent, "going down for the last time." The speaker grapples with "eels like ropes," a nightmarish image that blurs the line between reality and surrealism. The speaker's struggle with the eels is a metaphor for the speaker's struggle with the act of drowning. The eels represent the speaker's fears and insecurities, which prevent the speaker from coming to terms with death. The idea is simple, trying to avoid the troubles out of fear is not a solution, one has to face the situation to resolve it, otherwise, he is sure to drown.
This poem is a meditation on death. The speaker is drowning, and as she does, she sees "scavengers" coming to "clean up the ocean floor" after she has succumbed. The speaker portrays death as a predator and a disposer, a force that strips away the remnants of life without ceremony. The speaker's relief at the prospect that "death... will bother me no more" suggests a resigned acceptance, a desire for release from the relentless fear that has plagued her.
Stanza 3 Lines 17-24
“I
had never
had this dream before
except twice when my parents
clung to rafts
and sat together for death,
frozen
like lewd photographs.”
The poem then shifts to a reflection on past dreams of drowning, specifically recalling the speaker's parents "clung to rafts / and sat together for death." The image of the parents frozen "like lewd photographs" underscores the morbidity and helplessness associated with the dream.
Stanza 4 Lines 25-32
“Who listens to dreams? Only symbols for something -
like money for the analyst or your mother's wig,
the arm I almost lost in the washroom wringer,
following fear to its core, tugging the old string.
But real drowning is for someone else. It's too big
to put in your mouth on purpose, it puts hot stingers
in your tongue and vomit in your nose as your lungs break.
Tossed like a wet dog by that juggler, you die awake.”
In this stanza, the speaker questions the significance of dreams, acknowledging that they are often dismissed as mere symbols, but she emphasizes that the fear embedded in these dreams is real and potent. The mention of the "arm I almost lost in the washroom wringer" adds a personal anecdote of near-disaster, further illustrating how fear permeates even the most mundane aspects of life.
The poet then contrasts the symbolic nature of dreams with the reality of drowning, asserting that "real drowning is for someone else. It's too big / to put in your mouth on purpose." Here, she underscores the uncontrollable nature of true fear, which cannot be neatly contained or dismissed. The description of drowning as an experience that "puts hot stingers / in your tongue and vomit in your nose as your lungs break" is visceral and unsettling, capturing the physical agony and panic that accompanies the act of drowning.
Stanza 5 Lines 33-40
“Fear,
a motor,
pumps me around and around
until I fade slowly
and the crowd laughs.
I fade out, an old bicycle rider
whose odds are measured
in actuary graphs.”
The speaker elaborated more on fear as a relentless force, likened to a "motor" that drives the speaker around in circles until she fades away, "an old bicycle rider / whose odds are measured / in actuary graphs." This metaphor highlights the inevitability of death and the statistical calculations that quantify human life, reducing it to numbers and probabilities.
Stanza 6 Lines 41-48
“This weekend the papers were black with the new highway
fatalities and in Boston the strangler found another victim
and we were all in Truro drinking beer and writing checks.
The others rode the surf, commanding rafts like sleighs.
I swam - but the tide came in like ten thousand orgasms.
I swam - but the waves were higher than horses' necks.
I was shut up in that closet, until, biting the door,
they dragged me out, dribbling urine on the gritty shore.”
The speaker further elaborates on the inevitability of death and mentions how death may hit someone in several ways. She mentions the ‘highway fatalities’ and the murder by strangulation in Boston, suggesting that the fear is futile and death is inevitable. Yet, her fear kept her from facing the problem but that brought nothing but humiliation. The speaker's struggle against the waves and the eventual, humiliating rescue where she is "dribbling urine on the gritty shore." The imagery here is raw and unflinching, emphasizing the loss of dignity in the face of overpowering fear.
Stanza 7 Lines 49-56
“Breathe!
And you'll know . . .
an ant in a pot of chocolate,
it boils
and surrounds you.
There is no news in fear
but in the end it's fear
that drowns you.”
Sexton offers another vivid imagery to describe the fear, comparing the individual fearing death to ‘an ant in a pot of chocolate.’ The ant is addicted to the chocolate, the taste of life that it is not ready to give up. However, the chocolate keeps melting and then boiling, revealing itself as the fear the ant wishes to avoid. "There is no news in fear / but in the end it's fear / that drowns you." Sexton acknowledges that fear is an omnipresent, ordinary aspect of life, yet it holds the power to overwhelm and consume. In "Imitations of Drowning," Sexton masterfully weaves together the physical and psychological dimensions of fear, creating a powerful meditation on the inescapable nature of human anxiety and how it can suffocate the soul.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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