The Ocean/Water, “A Letter”
In “A Letter,” Anthony Hecht utilizes water—and its many different forms—to depict the narrator’s overwhelming sense of sorrow. The narrator refers to the “sliding moonlit sea” and the “the clear unquarried blue” of the depths of the ocean. Whilst expressing how overwhelmed he is by the woman’s loss; the narrator proclaims that “the tides welled about” him and made him feel as if he was drowning. In this way, Hecht utilizes ocean and water imagery to depict the narrator’s helplessness. Without his beloved, he feels as if he is trapped in the middle of a vast sea—always treading water, always fighting to stay above the surface, never safe from drowning. This imagery is therefore a powerful metaphorical representation of the narrator’s never-ending grief.
Nature, “Lot’s Wife”
In Hecht’s poem “Lot’s Wife,” the narrator describes—in great and vibrant detail—numerous aspects of nature that are seemingly simple and mundane. Whilst reflecting upon his childhood years, filled with wonderment, the narrator describes a spider as it creates its web, a fly as it cleans its small legs, and the warm color of a walnut’s shell. As the narrator describes each of these objects and creatures, he reflects upon the role they played in his childhood. When he was a child, these objects and creatures were the most beautiful, complex, and satisfying things he had ever laid eyes upon. In this way, the imagery of nature plays a significant role in this poem and in the poet’s life. This imagery is meant to highlight how the nature that surrounds us may seem simple at first glance. Upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that the most marvelous and magnificent aspects of our world are in the smallest, seemingly most insignificant objects—like a spider and a web.
Still Life, “Death the Painter”
Hecht’s poem “Death the Painter” likens paintings and painters to death. Hecht’s describes in great detail how, once the painter has committed his vision to canvas, the subjects of his/her paintings may as well be dead; they no longer move, no longer breath, and will forever remain on the canvas. In this way, the imagery of still life—a common type of painting—becomes representative of death. Hecht’s vivid and specific descriptions of people and objects—forever frozen in place with every move of the painter’s paintbrush—summon specific images of still life, of people who are forever frozen in place. In this way, the still life that Hecht’s painter commit to the canvas are symbolic of the way that paintings are rather like death—and painters their deliverers.
Blood, “A Letter”
The imagery of “blood” is used numerous times throughout Hecht’s heartbreaking poem, “A Letter.” The narrator references “the blood” several times, and always in connection with the loss of his beloved. He comments that “blood knows what it knows” and on the “endless repetitions of his own murmurous blood.” This imagery is very particular, as blood is not only an essential part of our life, but a part that many are uncomfortable around. The imagery of the blood is meant to convey the all-encompassing and all-surrounding love the narrator has for his lost love. Even his blood—which courses through his veins every day—mourns this lost love. It senses the woman’s absence and in turn fills the narrator with sadness. This imagery is therefore meant to convey how the narrator’s very blood is tainted with sorrow; it courses through his veins, making it impossible to escape his heartache.
