Friday, April 15, 2011

Before the Flood by W.S Merwin

BEFORE THE FLOOD by W.S Merwin

Why did he promise me
that we would build ourselves
an ark all by ourselves
out in back of the house
on New York Avenue
in Union City New Jersey
to the singing of the streetcars
after the story
of Noah whom nobody
believed about the waters
that would rise over everything
when I told my father
I wanted us to build
an ark of our own there
in the back yard under
the kitchen could we do that
he told me that we could
I want to I said and will we
he promised me that we would
why did he promise that
I wanted us to start then
nobody will believe us
I said that we are building
an ark because the rains
are coming and that was true
nobody ever believed
we would build an ark there
nobody would believe
that the waters were coming

Analysis:

            The interesting thing about the poem is that it reads as if the entire thing is broken up without acknowledging any pauses or grammatical necessities. The entire poem flows but in general is choppy and lacks fluidity [ENJAMBMENT]. The conversational element of poem adds to its readability but does little to bridge this divide.
The poem is read form the point of view of a child. The child is speaking to himself and consistently asking “why”. There is a confliction between the child’s innocence and the reality of building an arch. He struggles to find the median between reality and hope. He also parallels his struggle to Noah of Noah’s Arc by stating “nobody believes me” just as in the case of Noah. However and oddly enough, in the story of Noah’s Arc, Noah was correct when he portends of a flood. Maybe this fact will come true in the boy’s poem, maybe not, but it leaves the reader with the ominous sense of eminence.


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