The Wellfleet Whale (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Stanley Kunitz
- First Published: 1981
- Type of Work: Poem
- Genres: Poetry
- Subjects: Death or dying, Sea or seafaring life, Birds, Harbors, Whales or whaling, Massachusetts
“The Wellfleet Whale” grew out of the beaching of a whale on the Massachusetts coast near where Kunitz had a home. A journal entry that Kunitz made at the time of the incident precedes the poem. In this entry, the poet reveals his connection with the whale, the emotional tie that seems to bind the two. Kunitz put his hands on the whale's flanks and “could feel the life inside him.” The whale opened its eye and, staring directly at Kunitz, sent a shudder of recognition between the two. Then the beached creature died, closing forever the eye that was to haunt Kunitz long...
[The entire page is 608 words long]
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