I Go Back to May 1937

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2004

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Form & Meter

“I Go Back to May 1937” is a thirty-line poem in free verse without stanza breaks nor identifiable meter and rhyme. The poem is organized by a vivid description of the speaker’s parents, which adds to a sense of objective visualization before it moves into how the relationship becomes abusive and what that means emotionally for the speaker. The speaker then pulls back and then uses visual imagery to create a show of puppetry in which they control their parents. The poet’s use of shifts in time as well as feeling adds to the emotional ambiguity the speaker has about their parents’ union.

Some critics have seen Olds’s use of form as chaotic, particular when a lack of strong words at the end of lines is observable. In “I Go Back to May 1937,” Olds often ends lines on inconsequential words like “the” (Line 3), “its” (Line 8), and “of” (Line 18). However, Olds has spoken about her use of form and her deliberate method. She notes in her interview with Mary Block in Washington Square that she enjoys “the look of the big clump—with different length lines. They make a kind of tallish shape on the page.” For her, it is highly organic with the “left-hand margin” looking like a “pine tree trunk” while the right has “little dribbly things” that function as “green shoots” and “little cones.” For her, the “strong place is the first word in the line” whereas the ends contain “something unseen” like “the spirit-body of the poem.” In this interview with Block, she also suggests if one turns the poem on the side, the ends of the lines almost seem “the roots” of the tree of the poem. While this is not a formal construction, it does much to explain the organic feeling of the poem. (For a link to Block’s complete interview, see the Further Readings section.)

Olds has also been criticized for using gerund phrasing like “are going” rather than a more active formation of the verb. However, in this particular poem, it adds to the effect of encroaching and unceasing doom. Further, when the speaker asserts their own feeling, the more active verbs are used as in “I want to go up to them and say Stop” (Line 13). This line shows the speaker’s ability to take greater control of their own actions and thoughts, even as they cannot undo their parents’ behavior.

Anaphora

Anaphora is the successive repetition of a phrase in a poem, at the beginning of a line or clause. It enhances rhythm while it drives a sonic effect and creates a sense of rhetorical persuasion. Emphatic and forceful, anaphora is a technique often present in political speeches and sermons. The Bible is full of anaphoric phrases, like “thou shalt not,” “he begat” or “May he grant you” and these phrases also populate psalms and hymns.

The poet uses anaphora in “I Go Back to May 1937” several times in connection with the speaker’s parents. The first section helps to list the facts about the young couple: “They are about to graduate, they are about to get married / they are kids, they are dumb” (Lines 10-11). This repetitive series is stated as fact, giving authority to the speaker’s version of events. It also sets the parents on equal standing, as they have appeared separately in the opening images. Now they are united. The second anaphoric grouping enhances this union: “You are going to” (Lines 15-19) is used consecutively in five lines to drive home the fact that the parents are associated with negative action. The shift to anaphoric direct address gives this section a sense of righteous accusation, although the speaker does not fully abandon a tone of sympathy for their parents.

Finally, when the speaker looks again at their parents later in the poem, anaphora is employed for a third and final time: “her hungry pretty face turning to me, / her pitiful beautiful untouched body, / his arrogant handsome face turning to me, /his pitiful beautiful untouched body” (Lines 21-24). Here, the speaker equates the parents with each other as in the first anaphora. Both faces are “turning to” the speaker (Line 21, Line 23), as are both parents’ “beautiful, untouched” bodies (Line 22, Line 24). Yet, as in the second anaphora, a tone of judgment is still present, as both parents’ bodies are “pitiful” (Line 22, Line 24). The mother is described as “hungry” (Line 21) and the father is “arrogant” (Line 23). This mixture of pity and appraisal drives the emotion of the poem forward. The effect of the litany adds to the speaker’s persuasive argument that their version of reality is the correct one.

Visual Imagery

Part of what makes “I Go Back to May 1937” function as an expression of the speaker’s version of their own truth is the specificity of Olds’s visual imagery. Her ability to describe physical details and setting quickly and succinctly enable the reader to visualize the characters and the places in which they move. This clarity of vision gives the poet’s speaker a sense of authority as they describe what happened in the past. The sharp specificity of the visual detail calls to mind a photograph, and the realism lends the speaker’s narrative a highly believable tone.

The poet’s use of visual imagery makes it easy for the reader to see what the speaker sees. The “arrogant” (Line 23) young man “strolling out” (Line 2) of the “ochre sandstone arch” (Line 3) of his college is clearly powerful. The visual picture of the “bent plates” (Lines 4-5) of the “red tiles” (Line 4) looking like “blood” (Line 5) warms the vision and adds a violent dimension to the father’s characterization. As well, the speaker’s mother’s more passive stance “standing” (Line 7) with a “few light books” (Line 6) in front of the “still open” (Line 8) gate conveys an ethereal sense that contrasts with the solidity of the young man. Here too the image is populated with implied color, the “tiny bricks” (Line 7) suggest red brick while the “wrought-iron gate” (Line 8) is likely black. The speaker notes “the late May sunlight” (Line 20) that can illuminate every object present in this moment, so that even the gate’s “sword-tips” (Line 9) are described as “aglow” (Line 9).

The vivid reality of the descriptions allows the reader to invest in the speaker’s vision. With these visual hooks, the speaker is then able to broach the uglier topic of the speaker’s regret regarding their parents’ union as well as the abusive environment they created. But the vision is fully the speaker’s creation, a fact acknowledged at the end when the speaker notes that the parents are their “paper dolls” (Line 27).