Portrait of a Figure Near Water
by Jane Kenyon
(published in her Collected Poems, Graywolf Press, 2005)
Rebuked, she turned and ran
uphill to the barn. Anger, the inner
arsonist, held a match to her brain.
She observed her life: against her will
it survived the unwavering flame.
The barn was empty of animals.
Only a swallow tilted
near the beams, and bats
hung from the rafters
the roof sagged between.
Her breath became steady
where, years past, the farmer cooled
the big tin amphoræ of milk.
The stone trough was still
filled with water: she watched it
and received its calm.
So it is when we retreat in anger:
we think we burn alone
and there is no balm.
Then water enters, though it makes
no sound.
Water symbolizes re-birth, purity, and wisdom, and in this poem, Jane Kenyon adds peace to that group.
This poem is typical of Kenyon's genius. Short, sparse lines--nothing extraneous. We are put into the scene immediately (an angry woman runs to a barn) and then are provided with figurative language: anger is an arsonist creating an inner flame.
The next stanza is description, further telling us how alone, in this lyrical moment, the woman is. A swallow and a few bats are the only other beings with her.
She begins to calm and we are given some description of the past, of how this barn, now unused, used to be productive. And then the woman sees the water.
In the last stanza, we all join the woman. We're reminded that our anger makes us feel alone in it, but we are not. Futhermore, there is something that soothes. Water may not cure, it may not defeat that inner arsonist, but it douses the flame and makes it possible to return to life.
This poem is such a comfort in that the message here is universal. All of us experience anger, and all of us understand the benefits of water. Water not only puts out fires, but also brings peace, purity of thought, a wiser self, and a new self.
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