Trying to Talk with a Man (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Adrienne Rich
- First Published: 1973
- Type of Work: Meditative lyric
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry, Meditation
The Poem
Adrienne Rich’s “Trying to Talk with a Man” is a compact and powerful poem consisting of thirty-nine lines arranged in nine stanzas that vary in length from one to seven lines. The poem describes a conversation between a man and a woman who have gone out into the desert where bombs are being tested. As the title indicates, this conversation is difficult: The speaker is “trying” to talk and perhaps not succeeding. Each of the two people in the poem, a man and a woman, sees the other as dangerously threatening; communication has broken down.
Almost all...
[The entire page is 1475 words long]
