Poetry Explication

A detailed Summary of Poetry Explication

The second sonnet in Mark Jarman's group of sonnets entitled The Word "Answer" can be interpreted two different ways. Is there a "right" way from which to view this poem, or is the poet simply exercising his God given right to ambiguity? Sonnet 2, as I will refer to it, revolves around someone sitting in a bathtub when suddenly there is a knock at the door, which soon turns into ringing and pounding, and finally the sound of breaking glass. Throughout the poem the person bathing debates whether or not to answer the door. By poem's end, the reader knows no more about the outcome than before the book was opened. Yet the importance lies not in a climactic conclusion, but rather the debate whether or not to let the strange knocker inside. Mark Jarman places the following quote by Karl Barth from Prayer at the beginning of his four sonnets: "Prayer exerts an influence upon God's action, even upon his existence. This is what the word 'answer' means." Sonnet 2 is the only of the four poems that does not explicitly mention prayer or God. Yet it is clear the poem deals with the same topic as the three sonnets with which it is grouped. The ambiguity of the poem lies in deciding which of the poem's two chara

The next few lines state that, "nobody's here to answer it but him. Perhaps they'll go away. But it's not easy, relaxing in the tub, reading the paper, with someone at the front door..." (Jarman 171). The question here is discovering who is the "him" being discussed. By saying, "nobody's here to answer it but him" gives sufficient evidence that the bather is not be God, otherwise "him" would be capitalized. Furthermore, the responsibility to respond, or answer God's knock lies solely on our shoulders. Truly, nobody else can answer it. Yet on the other hand, isn't it God who answers our prayers? Furthermore the importance of capitalizing "him" seems insignificant within the context of the entire poem. Again the reader is left with yet another ambiguity.

Line one presents the all-important dilemma, "There's the door. Will anybody get it?" (Jarman 170). The bather hopes someone else will get the door because his warm bath is so soothing. The bather thinks of a substantial reason why not to answer the door. Chances are that "by the time he towels off and puts on his pajamas, robe, and slippers and goes down, they'll be gone..." (Jarman 171). These lines present the bather as being comfortable in his pres

Some common words found in the essay are:
God God, Barth Prayer, Word Answer, Mark Jarman, Mark Jarman's, jarman 171, Poetry Explication, sonnet 2, answer door, answer prayers, warm bath, mark jarman, sitting bathtub, door jarman, ringing pounding, nobody's answer,

Approximate Word count = 825
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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