It was taken some time ago.
At first it seems to be
a smeared
print: blurred lines and grey flecks
blended with the paper;
then, as you scan
it, you see in the left-hand corner
a thing that is like a branch: part of a tree
(balsam or spruce) emerging
and, to the right, halfway up
what ought to be a gentle
slope, a small frame house.
In the background there is a lake,
and beyond that, some low hills.
(The photograph was taken
the day after I drowned.
I am in the lake, in the center
of the picture, just under the surface.
It is difficult to say where
precisely, or to say
how large or small I am:
the effect of water
on light is a distortion
but if you look long enough,
eventually
you will be able to see me.)
Good gosh poetry sucks! It just sounds like someone trying point out where they are in a badly taken picture.
it is noted that is does appear a photo of the scene long faded, has keep a glimpse of hindering yonder, forgotten, yet remembered,
This Is A Photograph Of Me
Author: Poetry of Margaret Atwood Type: Poetry
http://www.eliteskills.com/c/12002
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for a moment it reminded me of Tom Thomson, had there been mention of a canoe or term "painting of me", who is also forgotten, yet remembered so,
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The picture, so well described in its fragile state, brings your readers to the point where you show why it is fragile. Why a photograph is taken down. Perhaps someone didn't want a reminder of the way you died (a killer, a mother, a lover). I don't know if I would want to see the place someone I loved disappeared because on one hand it would wrench my heart to feel the pain again and again. On the other hand, though, it could be a scene that I want to see over and over because it reminds me of that person.
It is a good poem. The last stanza stands by itself; it is the crux of the poem. See ME. I am here. Don't look away. Touch me while you can. Powerful!t
Atwood criticizes men and society in her poem This Is A Photograph Of Me by saying women are pushed to side, have stereotypes put on them, and essentially drowned. The picture looks smeared and blurry, as was women s role in society, but as one studies the photograph more carefully, you see a branch in the upper left hand corner, and on the right, halfway up/what ought to be a gentle/slope (10-12) is a house. The hill ought to be gentle, but that does not mean it is gentle. Females ought to be gentle, but are we always? The branch in the left (liberal) hand corner is the movement for gender equality.
In the center of the picture but in the background is a lake. The photograph was taken the day after the speaker drowned in this lake. She can be seen just under the surface (18) if you look hard. The water, or society and men, distorts her: it is almost impossible to tell her size. Yet it can be seen if studied closely.
The woman s death in this poem is set in parenthesis, in an aside, as if it is not worthy of being part of the poem. Men and society s expectations and whims pushed the speaker under the lake and drowned her. This poem may be a reflection upon the past, because this photograph was taken some time ago (1). Atwood wrote the poem in 1998, and it could be a memory of years past when she first felt oppressed by society.
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What is the theme of this poem below?