Poetry Explication Worksheet
Student Example
1.
Title of poem: Living in Sin
2.
Poet: Adrienne Rich
Important background information on poet: Adrienne wrote Living In Sin in 1955, shortly after she was married in 1953. Given that she turned out to be a lesbian, it certainly expressed the frustration she felt in not being able to achieve satisfaction within her marriage to a man. Even though she entered marriage willingly, nothing she did could mend the emptiness that dwelled inside her. Given the time of her published work, the content of her poem was extremely controversial revealing her disapproving opinions involving the expected role of women within society.
Who is the speaker? The speaker is an omniscient narrator. What kind of person is the speaker? In being an omniscient narrator, the speaker appears to be a very intuitive inside observer. The speaker is completely aware of the sinful thoughts and actions that linger within the wife’s mind, and understands the failed commitment and deteriorated passion that has surfaced within the couples’ marriage. The narrator also views the couple as a dwindling flame that has inevitably lost the spark that first ignited their love. The speaker emphasizes greatly on how badly the couples’ relationship has become without inflicting an essence of judgment on either character. The only judgment made is of that of the marriage’s condition in general.
3.
Who is the audience? The poem appeals to women . What can you know about this audience? Little can be inferred about the audience, but the appeal is to women who are not satisfied with their lives and choose to passively settle for what is traditional/ expected.
4.
What is the occasion? The occasion is the observation of a withering marriage that has desperately been neglected. It involves a deeply distraught wife’s concern towards her unfulfilling marriage that has seeped beneath her and has left her willing to indulge in sinful acts to mend the void that has surfaced.
5.
What is the setting? (hour, season, century, etc.): The setting occurs early in the morning at 5:00 a.m. within a studio.
6.
What is the central purpose of the poem?: The central purpose of this poem appears to be a symbolic warning to women about the unsatisfying role of being a neglected house wife, and reveals the alternatives that tend to inevitably surface within the lives of married women who are extremely unhappy. It also reveals that trying to survive passively rather than live freely will ultimately lead to guilt and regret through the temptation of sin.
7.
Summarize the events of the poem. a.
The poem immediately begins with a crushing tone of disappointment, revealing a woman’s dissatisfaction with the way her marriage has unfolded: “she had thought the studio would keep itself; no dust upon the furniture of love”. One can infer that the studio symbolizes marriage and that the furniture of love is referring to the bed. With great emphasis on the phrase “she had thought”, it is entirely clear that she had anticipated that marriage would keep itself; it would take little work and her love life would never be neglected. However, with the implication that dust covers the bed, her love life with her husband is entirely passionless. The poem later reveals that the couple is anything but close. They do not confide in one another, nor express any emotion, which is ironic considering the environment of their home: a studio, a place where few (if any) walls are located. Therefore, to hide anything from one another would be difficult. One would have to learn to almost completely hide their feelings, wear a mask of emotionless features, for there would be few places of refuge. b.
The narrator continues to reveal the wife’s dissatisfaction by declaring: “Half heresy, to wish the taps less vocal, the panes relieved of grim. A plate of pears, a piano with a Persian shawl, a cat stalking the picturesque amusing mouse had risen at his urging.” Thus, the wife wishes that the obviousness of her marriage’s malfunction was less apparent, the impurity of their lives relieved. Since pears are believed to induce sexual arousal and are sacred to Venus, the Roman Goddess of love. The reference to a plate of pears is ironic especially considering the European superstition that planting pear trees around the outskirts of one’s home would protect them as if deity figures. A Persian shawl, which is usually white, is given to a bride during the midst of her engagement to symbolize purity, innocence, and

faithfulness. It is also ironic that such an item would linger within the studio, sadly reminding the wife of the things her marriage lacks. The cat is referred to as “his”, thus implying it is a male. The mouse, a weak and vulnerable creature, therefore could possible represent the state of the unhappy wife.
She is so desperate for some form of closure that almost any preying creature could urge her, tempt her. c.
The purpose of this cat and mouse game is then further explained: “Not that at five each separate stair would writhe under the milkman’s tramp; the morning light so coldly would delineate the scraps of last night’s cheese and three sepulchral bottles.” This directly insinuates that the wife is having an affair, for as the morning light approaches, so, too, does the milk man. He stalks the vulnerable and desperate wife, just as the intimidating cat stalked the weak and helpless mouse. When light does begin to appear, it reveals the uneaten and wasted food left over from the night before and parallels this act of waste to that of the condition of the wasted marriage, and most importantly reveals the, still empty, milk bottles. The Thus, the light of morning allows the audience to see where the title of
Living in Sin stems from, for the light reveals a cold, brutal truth that the wife has deceived her husband by indulging in adultery. d.
Now that light has revealed the secrets kept by the wife, it is the speculation of peering eyes that judge the sinful act committed: “that on the kitchen shelf among the saucers a pair of beetle-eyes would fix her own---envoy from some village in the moldings.” The peering eyes of the beetle judge the wife’s neglect of her womanly roles: maintaining a clean kitchen, providing an immaculate home, and most importantly remaining faithful to her husband. The implication that the bug belongs to a village within the moldings of her home, seem to remind the wife that eyes are always watching her, just as
God’s eyes can always view her. e.
The audience is finally introduced to the husband, and is able to see why the wife has become so indifferent to the role of a faithful wife: “Meanwhile, he with a yawn, sounded a dozen notes upon the key board, declared it out of tune, shrugged at the mirror, rubbed at his beard, went out for cigarettes; while she, jeered by the mirror demons, pulled back the sheets and made the bed and found a towel to dust the table-top, and let the coffee-pot boil over on the stove.” As soon as the husband awakens, he immediately begins to play the keyboard, criticizes it for it’s imperfection, shrugs at his neglected and seemingly grungy appearance, rubs his beard, and leaves to buy cigarettes.
Not once did he say anything to his wife, wish her a good morning, or even acknowledge her presence.
It is obvious that he is use to neglecting things: his appearance, the tune of his keyboard, and now his marriage. He sees his wife as if a possession, a tool that he can use at his disposal. Since he does not need her for anything at the moment when he wakes, he simply finds no purpose to acknowledge her, just as he sees no purpose in playing an out of tune keyboard. Therefore, the condition of the piano acts as a metaphor paralleling to that of the condition of their marriage. The couple is so out of tune with one another, that it is easier for them to go their own way; no harmony could ever be composed between them without major adjustments. However, such an adjustment is unattainable due to the repetitive image of neglecting those things that need nurturing. While the husband disappears to get cigarettes, the wife is left in solitude and is overwhelmed with the guilt of her conscience. Because she is so filled with guilt, she begins to “turn back the sheets” only after her husband leaves. While she makes the bed, her mind is so focused on her sinful secret, that she becomes entirely consumed with cleaning to try to steer her mind away from her wrong doings. She occupies herself so well, that she forgets about the coffee brewing on the stove. The overflowing of heated, brewing coffee parallels with the secret that is “brewing” in the back of her mind while she focuses on trying to be a diligent house wife. However, in trying to be something she is not, the image of neglect is instilled when she forgets to turn off the coffee pot. f.
The poem concludes with a turning point in the wife’s attitude: “By evening she was back in love again, though not so wholly but throughout the night she woke sometimes to feel the daylight coming like a relentless milkman up the stairs.” After cleaning her home, it is as if she actually cleansed her conscience. By seeing that her home is no longer neglected, it secures her with the temporary false belief that everything is seemingly normal again; she is in love again, but not completely. The feelings

of wanting to find closure somewhere else beyond the depths of her husband’s confinements, still linger within her thoughts. Her guilty conscience presumes to resurface at the time when the milk man would be coming up the stairs to urge her with temptation. In order for the wife to console herself and move past her feelings of remorse and regret, she must lie to herself. Pretend that she is happy and that she is still in love. Therefore in her case, living in sin is inevitable. Whether she presumes to lie to her husband or to herself, her thoughts are not pure and will never truly be content.
8.
Discuss the diction (word choice) of the poem. Point out words that are particularly well chosen and explain why. a.
“Half heresy” is used to implement the wife’s wish that the traces of her failed marriage were less noticeable. Because the wife wishes that the evidence would disappear, rather than she and her husband rekindle their love, her unwillingness to try to mend what is broken, is what makes her perspective somewhat sacrilegious. b.
“ Sepulchral bottles” is used to emphasize the death of a pure and faithful marriage. Sepulchral relates to burial vaults or funeral burials, therefore, the diction here is perfect in symbolizing the death of the couple’s marriage. c.
“ Delineate the scraps” is used to portray how the sunlight will describe the left out food and the empty milk bottles as evidence to a neglected and unhappy marriage. It will also serve as evidence that the milk man did not fulfill his job of refilling the bottles, just as the wife did not carry out her duties of cleaning the kitchen.
9.
Discuss the imagery. What kinds of images are used? Is there any structure to the imagery? Explain. a.
Line 2: The narrator uses imagery to reveal the condition of the couple’s love life by describing an image of dust covering their bed. b.
Lines 5-7: An image of a cat stalking a defenseless mouse is instilled to emphasize the parallelism that exists between the conniving nature of the cat to that of the men who try to pry on vulnerable women.
In this case, the milk man. c.
Lines 9-11: A detailed image of what the morning light exposes is instilled and reveals the infidelity that has occurred between the wife and the milk man. The milk man arrives at 5 in the morning, a time when light is still in hiding. However, when the sun rises and light exposes the kitchen, empty milk bottles still remain. He did not bring new milk, nor did he take the old bottles. He provided no service except to instigate sin. The structure of this image is very important because it is seemingly what sets the mood of regret and deception throughout the poem. d.
Lines 15-18: This image is most definitely important to the theme of the poem because it reveals the disposition of the husband. His whole description reveals an attitude and appearance of a neglectful quality. Thus allowing the audience to understand why the couple’s marriage was able to be neglected so easily. His entire demeanor was passive and self revolving. e.
Line 22: The image of the coffee brewing over parallels with the overwhelming guilt that is brewing in the back of the wife’s mind. Coffee is hot, steamy, and dark and completely alludes to the sinful affair in which she partook. Darkness represents evil, while the steam and hot temperature indicate the passionate intercourse that existed between the wife and her lover. f.
Throughout the entire poem, a recurring image of neglect is implemented. The cleanliness of the home, the atmosphere of the bedroom, the love life between the couple, the maintenance of the key board, the physical appearance of the husband, attention paid towards the wife, and the coffee pot on the stove.
10.
Point out and explain any symbols. If the poem is allegorical, explain the allegory.
Throughout the entire poem many symbols were used: a) The Studio: is a symbol of the couple’s marriage. Just as the wife thought that the studio would keep itself clean, she also thought her marriage to her husband would thrive on its own. She did not foresee that is would be up to her to manage both the home and the prosperity of the marriage.

b) The Milkman: the milkman is a well known symbol that involves infidelity. Throughout the poem it is the overpowering temptation of the milkman that lures the defenseless wife to commit adultery. c) The Beetle-eyes: The peering eyes of the beetle judge the wife’s neglect of her womanly roles: maintaining a clean kitchen, providing an immaculate home, and most importantly remaining faithful to her husband. The implication that the bug belongs to a village within the moldings of her home, seem to remind the wife that eyes are always watching her, just as God’s eyes can always view her. Thus, the eyes of the beetle symbolize the eyes of God. d) The changing of the sheets: Only after her husband leaves does she bother to remove the sheets from her bed. She has been unfaithful, and by changing her sheets and act of some form of cleansing is attempted. e) Daylight: The daylight acts as a magnifying glass towards the relationship of the married couple. It allows the wife to clearly see the untidy home in which they reside, and enables her to take a closer glimpse at the many things she is unhappy with. f) Persian Shawls: Persian shawls are white and represent purity, innoscance, and faithfulness. It is usually given to women immediately after becoming engaged to symbolize their commitment. g) Pears: Pears are sacred to Venus, the Roman Goddess of love. It enhances lust and passion by stimulating the Sacral Chakra.
11.
Point out any examples of the following and give their significance: a.
Metaphor: The out of tune keyboard is used as a metaphor to bluntly parallel its condition to the unharmonious condition of their marriage. The husband neglects the keyboard for its imperfections just as he, too, neglects his wife. b.
Simile: A simile is used in order to compare the approaching of daylight to that of a relentless milkman up the stairs. Thus, no matter how hard the wife tries to live faithfully, she can never truly be content because factors beyond her control will consistently reveal what she tries so hard to ignore. The sun light will always reveal the confined role she is meant to repeatedly fulfill as a servile house wife to a man who shows her no gratitude, just as the thoughts of infidelity will always impede her mind and remind her of what she did. c.
Conceit: None d.
Personification: In line three personification is used to emphasize the extremely noticeable sign that the couple’s marriage is the product of failure. The wife wishes that the “taps were less vocal”. Even though the tapping in general is symbolic to the annoying and frustrating condition of their marriage, the less vocal quality that she desires the taps to have instills a sense of human qualities.
Personification is also used to emphasize the embarrassment and shame that is felt by the presence
of the milk man impeding on the vulnerable wife: “each separate stair would writhe under the
milkman’s tramp.” e.
Metonymy: None
12.
Point out and explain examples of a.
Paradox: None b.
hyperbole (overstatement):None c.
understatement: None d.
irony: Usually the term light would indicate a form of spiritual enlightenment on a symbolic level, and bring warmth when it invades darkness involving a literal interpretation; however, “that morning so light so coldly would delineate the scraps of last night’s cheese and three sepulchral bottles”, ironically indicates that light reveals infidelity. Therefore, light reveals evilness instead of goodness.
Irony also occurs when the husband “sounded a dozen notes upon the keyboard” and “declared it out of tune.” Irony exist here because the number 12 represents perfection within the bible, however, the twelve notes the husband plays reveals to him that the keyboard is imperfect and out of tune. e.
Allusion: None

f. parallelism and allusion: the coffee brewing over parallels with the overwhelming guilt that is brewing in the back of the wife’s mind. Coffee is hot, steamy, and dark and completely alludes to the sinful affair in which she partook. Darkness represents evil, while the steam and hot temperature indicate the passionate intercourse that existed between the wife and her lover
13.
Point out significant examples of sound devices and/or repetition and explain their function. a.
None
14.
State the form or pattern of the poem (line length—in syllables, stanza length, number of stanzas, etc.)
The poem contains no pattern because it is written using free verse. It contains one long stanza composed of
26 lines. The first line contains eleven syllables; the second line contains 10 syllables; the third line contains eleven syllables; the fourth line contains ten syllables, the fifth line contains eleven syllables the sixth line contains ten syllables; the seventh line contains seven syllables; the eighth line contains eleven syllables; the ninth line contains ten syllables; the tenth line contains nine syllables; the eleventh line contains eleven syllables; the twelfth line contains eleven syllables; the thirteenth line contains ten syllables; the fourteenth line contains ten syllables; the fifteenth line contains six syllables; the sixteenth line contains eleven syllables; the seventeenth line contains eleven syllables; the eighteenth line contains ten syllables; the nineteenth line contains nine syllables; the twentieth line contains ten syllables; the twenty-first line contains nine syllables; the twenty-second line contains thirteen syllables; the twenty-third line contains eleven syllables; the twenty-fourth line contains ten syllables; the twenty-fifth line contains eleven syllables; the twenty-sixth line contains ten syllables.
15.
What is the meter of the poem? Mark each syllable as accented (stressed) or unaccented (unstressed), divide the lines into feet. Then identify the pattern of accented and unaccented syllables and the pattern of the rhymes, and note any significant variations from those patterns.
Because Living in Sin is written using free verse, there is not set metrical pattern
16.
Read the poem aloud. Determine is any sounds in the poem relate to topics discussed within the poem (for example, short, choppy syllables with repeated “ee” sounds could relate to a chirping bird discussed in the poem).
None
How is the poem constructed? What are its units of organization (quatrains, paragraphs, couplets, etc.)?
How are these units linked together (continued metaphor, pro and con, linked sound patterns, logical syllogism, train of thought, etc.)?
Living in Sin is constructed using the free verse style of poetry. It contains no rhyme scheme.
17.
Evaluate the poem. How well did it achieve its purpose? What is its theme? How well did it communicate its central idea or theme?
Adrienne Rich was a feminist activist who despised the cliché roles of women that were exemplified during the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Her poem entitled Living in Sin, deals with a very deprived and rather exasperated woman who unknowingly enters a marriage destined to fulfill a role she never intended to acquire as that of a neglected house wife, and reveals the alternatives that tend to inevitably surface within the lives of married women who are extremely unhappy. It also reveals that trying to survive submissively rather than live freely will ultimately lead to guilt and regret through the temptation of sin. In trying to exemplify the expected role that women were supposed to uphold as a wife, Rich is able to effectively portray the degradation that is inflicted upon women as they are used as mere tools by men. The husband did not acknowledged the presence of his wife nor did he ever do anything around the house. He woke up with merely one thing on his mind, self-fulfillment. The milk man also did nothing but take from his lover. He took her innocence and purity, and left her a sinner. He even neglected to refill the milk bottles just as the husband neglects to do anything for his wife or with himself, only for himself. Both men use this poor woman at their disposal, leaving her whenever they want while she remains isolated to clean the messes they have made. She must clean up the mess of her shattered morality, as well as clean up the mess of her neglected marriage.