The Maiden Voyage of the Jar of Dirt

Ahoy there my fellow buccaneers!

I know it’s been a while, but here it is – my first official blog entry!

After much debate as to which navigational course I should take first, I set sail in the direction of close reading on Anna Akhmatova’s poem “Lot’s Wife.”

Before I get to the close reading, here is the poem itself;

And the just man trailed God's shining agent,

over a black mountain, in his giant track,

while a restless voice kept harrying his woman:

"It's not too late, you can still look back

 

at the red towers of your native Sodom,

the square where once you sang, the spinning-shed,

at the empty windows set in the tall house

where sons and daughters blessed your marriage-bed."

 

A single glance: a sudden dart of pain

stitching her eyes before she made a sound . . .

Her body flaked into transparent salt,

and her swift legs rooted to the ground.

 

Who will grieve for this woman? Does she not seem

too insignificant for our concern?

Yet in my heart I never will deny her,

who suffered death because she chose to turn.

 

Now, on to the close reading.

“Lot’s Wife” is an allusion to the biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah. The allusion specifically revolves around the wife of King Lot, a woman mentioned only once in the Bible.

So, what deeper meaning was Akhmatova trying to convey through her extension of the story of a woman mentioned in only one line of the Bible? Well…

Through her use of allusion, Akhmatova conveys a sense – on both a personal and widespread level – of what things were like in her country in her lifetime, an era of oppression in which the past was something people were ordered to forget.

Now, before I proceed, a brief but crucial piece of background information; Akhmatova lived in early 20^th century Russia. It was a time of political unrest and tension. It was the era in which the Bolsheviks took power in Russia, beginning a reign of terror in which the Russian government oppressed its people, controlling nearly every aspect of their lives, dictating what they could and could not say or do.

So, how does this apply to “Lot’s Wife?”

Well, this context provides a revealing perspective from which this poem can be examined.

The line “It’s not too late, you can still look back,” is a reference to a desire to turn to the past. In the era of the Bolsheviks in Russia, the fact that people lost so many of the freedoms that they had had in the past would have made the idea of looking back at the past an attractive one. As Akhmatova goes on to describe the things at which Lot’s wife is looking back at – the square in which she sang, her spinning shed, the home in which she raised her family – this idea of nostalgic reflection is further strengthened. All of the things which, according to Akhmatova, Lot’s wife is tempted to turn back to look at are things which could hold fond memories. Use of the word “blessed” specifically indicates the good she finds in her past even as she flees her home in a whirl of darkness and chaos. In the time of the Bolsheviks, when life as the people of Russia knew it was turned upside-down, sending them into a period of danger and fear, to look back at the good found in the past would have made sense as the oppression of their lives held little good or hope for a brighter future.

Akhmatova goes on to describe the death of Lot’s wife, detailing the way in which a single glance backward led to “a sudden dart of pain stitching her eyes before she made a sound.” In the context of Akhmatova’s era, this fits with the way in which those who took over Russia tried to silence any dissenters before they had a chance to really speak out.

The line “her swift legs rooted to the ground,” is a more personal reference to Akhmatova’s own life. After the execution of her first ex-husband, Akhmatova’s career essentially nearly came to a total halt. Though they were divorced, Akhmatova was still considered to be an associate of her ex-husband, therefore causing her to be blacklisted by publishers as many of them were controlled by the same government which had ordered his execution.

The final lines of the poem refer to Lot’s wife as a woman “who suffered death because she chose to turn.” According to the poem, Lot’s wife – though her only intention was to look back at the good – was punished for turning back. In early 20^th century Russia, to look back at the past, to long for or to strive for a return to the past, was met with similar punishment. If the Russian people were looking to the past, it therefore meant that they did not support the new leaders, the new system, thus making them opposition – a threat that must be eliminated. Many were killed simply because they did not embrace their new way of life. They were killed because they decided to turn to look back at what they’d had before.

“Lot’s Wife” is a poem which deals with actions and consequences, with crime and punishment. While it is based on a biblical allusion, it is Akhmatova’s extensive elaboration which conveys her meaning.

…

Well, it seems that we have officially navigated through close reading number one!

I welcome any and all feedback (I promise, if you disagree with me, you won’t have to walk the plank!)

And it would seem that it is once again time to weigh anchor and set sail!

Until next time!