Summary
Lines 1–9
At the start, the speaker mentions "gates" and "colleges," using the plural form to highlight the contrasts between the two adults being depicted. Each individual is distinctly unique, originating from different backgrounds and locations. In the following lines, the man is seen emerging from beneath an ochre sandstone arch, painting a picture of clay walls in shades of dark yellow or reddish-brown in the reader’s mind. When this image of the sandstone arch is combined with "red tiles glinting like bent plates of blood," a vision of the southwestern United States is formed. Red ceramic tile roofs are prevalent in the architecture of Arizona and southern California, as are earthy brown walls. The "glinting" of the tiles suggests the sun reflecting off the roof, hinting at the Southwest, a region famous for its sunny, warm weather.
Contrasting with the man's setting, the woman stands by a "pillar made of tiny bricks," holding her books at her hip. A wrought-iron gate is positioned behind her. While the man exits his college by going under an arch, the woman must pass through a gate to commence her new journey. The bricks and wrought-iron gate imply a different locale from the man’s, potentially placing the woman’s college in the northeastern U.S., perhaps New England. Thus, her location would be the opposite of the man's. Moreover, she emerges with books, whereas he is empty-handed.
These fundamental differences alert the reader to the divides separating the man and woman. They are distinguished not only by gender but also by location and culture. While he leaves academic books behind, she holds her books close to her body.
Lines 10–12
The speaker now highlights the innocence of both the man and woman. She informs the reader that the couple is on the brink of graduating from college, suggesting they are young, likely in their early twenties. To emphasize their youth and lack of experience, the speaker states, "they are kids, they are dumb." The speaker also notes they would "never hurt anybody." Their innocence is such that the man and woman do not foresee that their marriage might eventually lead to pain. They only envision the transition from their single college lives to a new married life. They are too young to contemplate the possibility that their marriage could be a mistake. However, the speaker is aware of the impending disaster for the couple. She writes from a future perspective, having witnessed the past, and understands that the couple is on the verge of a significant action that will impact others.
Lines 13–19
The speaker reflects on potential actions she could take to avert this impending tragedy. She imagines intervening with the couple, expressing a desire to "go up to them and say Stop." The capitalized "Stop" evokes the image of a road sign, conveying a definitive warning. The speaker wishes to halt their journey toward marriage and emphasizes this with the command "don’t do it," underscoring her urgency to prevent the union. She refrains from telling them they are too young; instead, she asserts, "she’s the wrong woman," and "he’s the wrong man." The speaker cautions that being mismatched will lead them to unforeseen actions. To accentuate her point, she adds, "you are going to do bad things to children," highlighting the potential harm an unhappy marriage could inflict on offspring. The subsequent lines clarify that the suffering will extend beyond the children, affecting the couple as well "in ways you never heard of." It is conveyed to the reader that the misery will be so intense that the couple "are going to want...
(This entire section contains 1147 words.)
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to die." These lines paint a vivid picture of profound unhappiness, depicting a marriage so damaging that the children will bear lifelong scars, and the parents will find solace only in thoughts of death.
Lines 20–25
These lines reveal the depth of the speaker’s anguish. The speaker shares her wish to have warned the couple and tried to prevent their marriage, but acknowledges her inability to do so. Once again, she speaks from a future perspective, possessing a god-like omniscience, having witnessed the outcome of the couple’s relationship. As in the first line, the speaker reaffirms the timing: at graduation in late May. This serves as another reminder, two-thirds through the poem, of the couple’s youth and innocence on that day in 1937 when they graduated from college. The woman’s face is described as "hungry," eager to embrace new desires and opportunities. However, her expression also suggests she is unaware of the risks she is taking. This blankness may also indicate her lack of experience as she faces the world; her forehead bears no signs, and her eyes lack the awareness that impending pain will soon impart.
In contrast, the man is characterized as "arrogant," a reference to his unjustified pride, which was highlighted earlier when "he strolled out" from college. He did not merely "walk," but "strolled," implying the leisurely gait of someone supremely confident. However, his "blind face" reveals to the reader that he is as limited and unaware as the woman.
The repeated phrase "pitiful beautiful untouched body" highlights the emptiness within the marriage, while also alluding to deep loneliness and loss. These bodies have not experienced profound passion or intimacy. The repetition is slightly spaced apart, mirroring the separation between the man and woman. Although she is beautiful and he is handsome, their attractiveness hasn't united them. The speaker observes their beauty, solitude, loneliness, and blindness, and feels compelled to say, “Stop, / don’t do it.”
Lines 26–30
In the poem's final lines, the speaker comes to terms with her parents' fate and her inability to change the past. As she admits in line 25, “I don’t do it,” she refrains from stopping her parents' marriage. The speaker realizes she desires to live. Preventing their marriage and the subsequent misery would mean preventing her own existence. In a last effort, she imagines she can make her parents love each other by visualizing them as paper dolls she can push together. She says she will “bang” the two together. The term “bang” not only implies the force used to bring them together but also carries a vulgar connotation of sexual intercourse, which fits the poem's theme. In lines 22 and 24, the speaker emphasizes that passion has eluded this couple. By banging the paper dolls together, she seeks to create intimacy where none existed. Like striking “chips of flint,” she attempts to spark a flame that will consume and unite them.
In the final line, the speaker acknowledges and accepts the futility of her efforts. She cannot alter the past or force a connection that was never there. With the words, “Do what you are going to do, and I will tell about it,” the speaker expresses her resignation. All that remains is to recount the story of this tragic union.
