Poetry Essay: "Storm Warnings" & "Diving into the Wreck"

In "Storm Warnings," and "Diving into the Wreck," by Adrienne Rich, both have the same idea of creating a place of sanction and comfort. The main lesson to learn from both of these poems is that one must create a place of sanctuary, where one can go back and look back on the past, and finally they learn to move on rather than to try fighting it. Specifically in "Storm Warnings," the narrator is comparing her emotions to the storm brewing outside. To illustrate, "weather abroad and weather in the heart alike come on regardless of prediction," literally means the weather is unpredictable. Also, it means that a person's emotional long haul is hanging by a thread and is erratic. Furthermore, the poem goes on saying that no matter what, you cannot change the weather, "Which clocks and weatherglasses cannot alter." Which just goes on to say that the person will have to come into reference with their emotions, and settle all the little issues. For example, the weather, pain, and sadness you feel inside you can be pretty unpredictable and can surprise you when you aren't careful.
Adrienne Rich uses a wide variety of figurative language to create a sense of foreboding and helplessness in her poem "Storm Warnings." The opening of her poem uses imagery to convey the threat of the incoming storm: "winds are walking overhead" and there is a "zone / Of gray unrest" that she notices out of her window. The darkness of the imagery, as well as the personification embedded in the description of the wind makes the storm appear to be explicitly threatening, in that it feels both strong and determined to depress her. Thus, the speaker is almost immediately disturbed in the very first stanza, where she leaves the comfort of her "pillowed chair" and drew herself to leave behind the imaginary world of her book as well. Therefore, when you observe the force of the wind from the closed windows of her home, she secures the house in an effort to protect herself from the tempest outside. Otherwise, even when you despite her actions, the tone that describes her preparations is layered with anxiousness; she describes "the air / Moves inward toward a silent core of waiting," making it appear as if the speaker is the one silently and nervously waiting for any kind of disaster to strike. She also asserts that "Time in the hand is not control of time, / Nor shattered fragments of an instrument / A proof against the wind." The "shattered" glass gives these lines describing a lack of control an ominous overtone, in that it increases the sense that the storm is a threat. The speaker is showing that he knows of the inevitability of change and is conscious that there is little that she can do to avert it. Having closed the shutters and drawn the curtains, she is protected from the nasty storm. Yet Rich's acknowledgement of "the insistent whine" of "the keyhole draught" establishes that the speaker of the poem cannot fully isolate herself. Throughout these descriptions, Rich makes a metaphorical connection between the storm that is raging outside, and more emotional types of storms. She says that the never ending storm that is approaching is similar to "weather in the heart" and that the wind blows everything towards "a silent core of waiting" - both of which imply that there is a strong emotional component to her descriptions. Thus, in creating this bond, Rich is implying that we are equally powerless to control depression, heartbreak, and other kinds of emotional upheavals, just as homeowners are powerless to control storms blowing through and destroying their properties. Also, Rich uses symbolism, to represent things with symbols, during the conflict between weather and people's emotions. We can only wait for disaster to pass, then pick up the pieces and try to rebuild.
First, myth surrounds the wreck - the diver wants to dive down to the reality behind the myth. The diver's journey is not very different from that of the journey of the person in "Storm Warnings." By the end of the poem "Diving into the Wreck" - the return - the diver bestows on us, the reader the boon of knowledge and experience. The diver encompasses man and woman by the ambiguity of the diving suit - the diver is us. The descent down the ladder from human air to the deep is the beginning of the journey. The point of the journey is clear, however, the diver came to see the wreck. It is beautiful in its worn, skeletal state. The journey is one of the soul - the diver encourages us to go back to our wrecks and survey the damage after some time has passed. They will still be there for they are permanent. Our journey back may occur for different reasons - we boldly face it or we fearfully return to it in a dependent way. Within the first three lines of the poem, Rich presents three concrete images which have a symbolic meaning. The first image, "the book of myths," represents the historic view of women and their roles in a male dominated society, in which the reader must understand in order to proceed further in the poem. The next image, where the speaker is preparing her camera, shows her need to be able to capture the truth in a form that she can use as proof of the truths she will uncover. The third image, a knife, which possibly gives the most insight into the speakers state of mind because it allows the reader to understand that she realizes the dangers that may lie ahead in her future, but she is willing to face them to gain her ultimate goal of self-discovery. Rich continues to use concrete images as symbolic representations of the challenges which the speaker faces, and the discoveries she makes along the way. Through the use of imagery, and by manipulating the positioning and grammar of words, Adrienne Rich enables the reader to acknowledge the path that the speaker takes as one of not only self-discovery, but also as a mission to know the diversity of humanity. Rich's decision to use diving as an extended metaphor helps to make the poem understandable to readers through an activity that is commonly used.