"That evening at dusk-the slimy tench
Once called the ‘doctor fish’ because his slime
Was said to heal the wounds of fish that touched it.” (Haeney 20)
In this quote, Haeney talks about a type of a fish whose slime has healing ability and any wounded fish that comes to the contact with this slime will be healed. From reading the entire poem, one can tell Haeney feels sad, lonely, and old. From his hotel window, he sees young people coming from the discotheque having fun and laughing together. This makes him feel very lonely; he would love to be among his friends or those young people having fun. But then, he sees a boy flirting with a girl in a white dress on the parking lot; he suddenly considers his old age as sores and feels “wounded” by his age and loneliness. He compares the young girl with the fish that has a healing power; Haeney thinks if he touches or kisses the girl, she would heal him from his loneliness and his old age and make him feel young again. At the end of the poem, Haeney states, “Wanting to swim in touch with soft-mouthed life” (Haeney 20). To me, it seems like Haeney has the desire to live with some young girl and kiss her soft lips, which would take away not only the sadness and loneliness but also gave him new energy to live a happy life. Even at young age, when one feels sad and lonely he/she wishes to have somebody who would heal the pessimistic emotions and take all the pain away.
Hana Pasekova
I really enjoyed reading your post. I never really gave a thought to Heaney's mention of the slime and its healing ability. I think it's funny and kind of odd that he would compare the pretty, young girl in a white dress to a slimy fish.
ReplyDeleteYeah! There's the great comparison in this poem about the youthfulness of the girl and the slimy fish. What does Heaney achieve with this comparison? This image?
ReplyDelete