Poem At Thirty Nine Summary

The theme of remembrance is constantly explored in literature. The poems ‘Piano’, ‘Poem at 39’ ’ are no exception to this. Piano and Poem at Thirty-Nine takes a slightly different approach to the theme, however Lawrence uses very strong and emotive language to convey a sense of nostalgia. . The mood of the poem is sad and nostalgic. Whereas‘Poem at Thirty Nine ’ adresses her relationship with his father , “how I miss my father”, she wants to return to the warmth and comfort of his childhood days . It contains a turbulent mixture of negative then positive moods, all from Walker’s own point of view.

Besides the entire second verse is about their relationship with money. Walker thinks of her father when “writing deposit slips and checks”,

The poem is written with short lines in free verse. She is free to live the life she wants, unlike her father who was bound by his job and desire to support his family, represents when she was a baby and their lack of time together. Stanza two is lengthy, Walker makes use of repetition , she shows how she realises how much she misses him as she gets older, her feelings become more intense (note the use of exclamation as she is more emphatic) . Lapses and leaps between memories as she remembers the past and her father memories come to us sporadically. Unstructured as she lives an unstructured life where she does as she pleases. The frequent use of “I” makes this very personal and the nostalgic atmosphere makes it clear that she is recalling happy times from the past that she has spent with her father.

The language becomes more poetic, figurative and joyous in the second half .Imagery and symbolism is also used by Alice Walker in her Poem at Thirty Nine. Walker recalls his childhood with a sense of nostalgic fondness.An example of imagery that is used in the poem is, "He cooked like a person dancing" this quote is an illustration of visual imagery which emphasizes the joyous and good characteristics of her father. He cook´s fluently, rythmicly, vivacity with life. Her father was sumerged in a tranced like state not concious both calm and full of

It connotes a lively and passionate person of which the speaker then continues to describe herself in the same manner. Participles “tossing”, “seasoning”. She has inherited his creative flair and his generosity “happy to feed.” The stanzas become more structured towards the end of the poem displaying the speaker’s life as becoming more organised, possibly after an event such as leaving home. This scene is potrayed to the readers using vivid imagery:

His influence upon is also apparent when she says “he would have grown to admire the woman I’ve become”. Walker seeks her fathers approval and wishes to make him proud of how far she has come in life. It also shows that she has changed a lot since the time when she had “grieved” her father and that she has grown up and realized how much he means to her. She now emulates his father “cooking, writing, chopping wood, staring into the fire”.

The power of the past, and his deep need to recapture a similar sense of the peace and protection he felt as a child, overwhelm his rational mind. In Walker´s world, the power of emotion is almost always too potent for the power of thought; what one feels intrudes on one’s thinking, even at times one does not wish it