Student Question
Analyze the poem "Winter" by Robert Bly.
Quick answer:
In the poem, "Winter Poem," Robert Bly uses winter imagery and sounds to compare his relationship with someone to the life cycle of a winter ant. He is aware that his relationship is no longer passionate or loving like it once was, but he feels the two people can still build something of value from the places where they are wounded. The speaker is committed to his beloved and willing to wait for renewal rather than dwell on what was.Using natural imagery and echoing sounds of loneliness, "Winter Poem" conveys a hollow yet still hopeful mood toward a relationship that is no longer passionate.
It is first important to understand the nature of a winter ant in order to fully appreciate the speaker's conflicted feelings. As its name implies, a winter ant most often emerges when temperatures drop and most other ants disappear. The winter ant spends the hottest parts of the year burrowed underground, emerging when the weather is cold and competition for resources is not as fierce. Winter ants often go without eating for up to eight months, storing up fat reserves to take them through the hotter parts of the year. Because they aren't hidden away during the colder months, these ants are one of the first ant species to reproduce each spring.
The winter ant becomes an extended metaphor for the speaker's relationship with his...
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beloved. In recent times the love they share does not burn with a fiery passion; instead, it is "slow" and "dim-witted." They have endured some conflict ortragedy that has caused them to retreat into themselves, much as the winter ants burrow underground while most of nature is prolific. The speaker and his beloved "wait in a helpless way" for the "lean winter" of their relationship to pass, hoping that the promises of new life are on the horizon. The speaker feels that this life is only the "shell" of what they could be. Still, the couple wants to continue to "live"—not simply exist—and are committed to waiting out the "wounds" of emotional separation.
The sounds of the poem convey a sense of emptiness which establishes the mood of the poem. Notice the alliteration of the w in this line: "A wound, the wind, a word."
The list of potential injuries echoes with a hollow chasm that reflects the speaker's dejected emotional state. Later, alliteration demonstrates a sense of futility toward what has been lost: "Not whole and not healed." The h sound here reflects a sense of breathlessness, an exhaustion toward the efforts to make the relationship complete again.
It is also important to recognize the symbolism of winter itself in this poem. Winter is often associated with death, as everything in nature sheds color and all lifelike qualities to become barren and vacant. Yet this period of natural silence is necessary for the continuation of life; nature protects its core by shedding all but its most essential components. It's also important to consider that there is a time of sacred reflection that often occurs during the winter, and this period can lead to an awakening that is not possible during the busier times of life. Therefore, there is hope that this period of stillness and estrangement in the speaker's relationship will allow for new growth. Perhaps the couple will be able to emerge with a greater sense of purpose, growing back stronger than before by shedding their old "wounds" and "words," committed to "waiting" for a relational springtime.
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