Although the poem is written in the third person, it would seem that the “horses” don’t just represent the clashing feelings that belong to the “she” of the poem; perhaps the speaker is referring to herself here? When looking at the progression of the piece, it appears that this is the speaker’s way of settling such emotional contradictions, especially with such a resolution at the end. After all, the easiest way to dissect your emotions is to do so in the third person.
I highly agree with Field, it doesn’t appear that these “horses” are gendered. More so, they seem to represent the speaker’s feelings, emotions, memories, experiences, and even thoughts; thus, maybe in a more general mode, they could also be called “spirits,” as Field designates them. With this said, if these “spirits” must be assigned a gender, I suppose it would be neuter. Furthermore, “clear truths” are notable “through the spirits,” as Field would say, that indicate contempt, regret, sorrow, discomfort, appeal, and even love.
The speaker’s resolution is obvious in the last lines: “She had some horses she loved./She had some horses she hated./These were the same horses.” By this, Harjo explains that even the negative experiences of her life were loved as much as the positive ones, because all served as the components to her present day character, or at least when she wrote the poem.
I liked your interpretation of the poem. It was a lot like mine, except for the idea of gender in the poem. But your explanation for your agreement that the poem was not specifically gendered was well explained and you had some good points! Great job!
ReplyDelete-Ashlee
I agree that the clear truths are revealed through the "spirits," or horses. You did a nice job encompassing the range of conflicting emotions that the speaker described. Well done!
ReplyDeleteI liked that you started your blog by mentioning Harjo's use of horses to represent her own feelings. I also found this to be interesting. I agree that the horses were not a specific gender, and maybe that is why they could be spirits. Nicely Done!
ReplyDeleteYour take on the neutralization of the spirits is interesting. Also, I liked how you interpreted the last 3 lines of the poem as a resolution.
ReplyDeleteVery good ideas argued clearly with support from the text. I like you argument for gender and how it relates to the author's personal feelings. Good response.
ReplyDeleteGreat work with good textual evidence. Your interpretation of the poem was interesting. I agree with the spirits being gender neutral and if needing a gender assigned, neuter.
ReplyDeleteNice answer! the view you had on how you the "she" speaker was cool to think about and how her words described her emotions. great point about dissecting yourself through the third person because it is very true!
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