Monologue at Nine a.m. Louise Gluck

Monologue at Nine a.m. by Louise Gluck

“it’s no small thing, this coming

To this cantibile. Living

With him been fever from outset

Sixteen years ago. For sixteen years I’ve sat

?And??waited for things to get better. I have to laugh.?

You know, I used to dream that I might ebb to death

Or else he fall in love again And turn the hose

On someone else. Well, I suppose he has.

I thought I sensed an absence, and today he left his poached

Egg staring like a dying eye, his toast untouched.”??????

Thoughts

A.????Captures?the reluctance to accept that the relationship is over. However, the first line suggests that this acceptance comes at a great cost, emotionally, spiritually, and cognitively. The speaker to have arrived in a emotional state that she able to look at it and talk about it in a slightly singing manner.

B.????The use of the word?fever?suggests that this relationship was hot but diseased from the very start.

C.?????The phrase?ebb to death??jumps from the page and it’s sad to behold. Surely, it indicates the slow spiritual decline of the person involved and the emotional defeat. A lingering, slow descent into the emotional abyss.

D.????Human beings hold out for a relationship??to improve and to regress to the loving starting point. Avoidance and sticking one’s head in the sand. Avoiding pain and hurt of love lost.

E.?????Turn the hose?on someone else, perhaps,??highlights how damp and destructive his behaviour has become. Hose brings images of forcefulness, assertiveness of damp, wet or negative emotions. Not a good trait.?

F.?????There is sadness in the thought that he will love her wildly again, like in the beginning. Holding hope for the improbable or the impossible.

G.????The cognitive torture and the uncertainty of thinking that the partner is invested in the relationship still. Looking for signs or renewal and remaining investment in the relationship.

H.????Wonderful closing line, which by imagery and observation convey that this partner is not present in the relationship. Indeed, suggests that he lacks the courage and conviction to say it is over. People talk through their actions and the rejection of the breakfast is a symbol of disconnection.

I.??????The use of the word dying??is wonderful and deliberately picked as their relationship is certainly dying. Clear and precise message.Close to death but not there yet.

J.??????Using the term?dying eye,?suggests??there is little or no eye contact left.Eye contact being a central behaviour with couples in love.

K.?????Words and phrases that make an impression on??me,?“Fever, Ebb to death,Turn the hose, Dying Eye.”

L.?????Love how the poet uses toast and a poached egg, to signify the realisation that this is over. The Banality and ordinariness of the items which convey the serious message.