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An Explanation Of James Wright's Poem, Beginning

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The poet of Beginning and many others, James Wright, was born in 1927 in Martins Ferry, Ohio. In 1954, a year after his first child, James studied at the University of Washington (James).Unfortunately, James had a short life but, yet, got recognized to one of America’s finest contemporary poets (Brunner). Grievously, in 1979 he was diagnosed with tongue cancer, but could not pull throught. James died March 25, 1980. During his lifetime, he was successful with his poetry, my favorite being Beginning. This poem, written by James Wright, makes you really think about the reason the speaker’s life was so depressing to live(). The sonnet, Beginning, has a deep meaning behind the whole poem. “The moon drops one or two feathers into the field. The dark wheat listens. Be still. Now,” seems to me like the author prefers to have alone time to himself (Wright). Some may go …show more content…

I do not dare breathe Or move. I listen,” (Wright). describes how beautiful nature really is if everyone took the time to enjoy. For example, the breeze whisking across our faces. The speaker just stands there listening to the breeze passing by or the silence of the night. He or she may have a creative personality who would spot more beauty in nature and look deeper into it than others could ever imagine. While the elder tree in this poem could represent a tree that he grew up with in his backyard and is his favorite place to relieve his stress. “The wheat leans back towards its own darkness And I lean toward mine,” could play the part of the speaker minding his or her own business when “Between trees, a slender woman lifts up the lovely shadow Of her face, and now she steps into the air, now she is gone,” (Wright). These two lines out of the poem show that he or she does not like people. Therefore they worry more about him or herself and stays out of other people’s business. On the flip side, he or she may be used to people walking past, but does not think much of

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