"The Wild iris is a poem that is realistic to all humans" Discuss
Many poems explore issues that are relevant to life and our world. "The Wild Iris" by Louis Gluck looks at how life becomes sad when human suffering becomes unbearable. It also examines the significance of expressing one's thoughts, communication and finding confidence to do so.
The poem compares human suffering to the growth of the wild iris or any plant or flower. A plant according to the poet, makes a "passage from the other world" underground despite the difficulty of breaking through. In the image of the wild iris, the explosion of colour symbolizes new life.
Finding a voice to express our feelings and its significance is another point the poet makes in this poem. It is very important that we as humans speak out and express our thoughts.
The speaker describes a door which she sees "at the end of [her] suffering" and implores the reader/listener,
"Hear me out: that which you call death I remember."
POETRY SOCIETY POSTCARD
Poetry is an...
PoetryHearing the "branches of the pine shifting" as "the weak sun flickered over the dry surface" of the earth, this soul is only conscious of being "buried in the dark earth" alive, then feeling "the stiff earth bending a little."
If the sun is weak there is no hope. The sun is a symbol of hope and life itself.
The image of "birds darting in low shrubs" underscores the movement from underground to aboveground and the vantage point of the speaker as she emerges from the earth. As she "returns from oblivion . . . to find a voice," she sees a "great fountain" with "deep blue shadows on azure seawater" gushing forth, not only as a wild iris appears but also as the voice does when it bursts...