"Singapore" by Mary Oliver
In Singapore, in the airport,
A darkness was ripped from my eyes.
In the women’s restroom, one compartment stood open.
A woman knelt there, washing something in the white bowl.
In the women’s restroom, one compartment stood open.
A woman knelt there, washing something in the white bowl.
Disgust argued in my stomach
and I felt, in my pocket, for my ticket.
and I felt, in my pocket, for my ticket.
A poem should always have birds in it.
Kingfishers, say, with their bold eyes and gaudy wings.
Rivers are pleasant, and of course trees.
A waterfall, or if that’s not possible, a fountain rising and falling.
A person wants to stand in a happy place, in a poem.
Kingfishers, say, with their bold eyes and gaudy wings.
Rivers are pleasant, and of course trees.
A waterfall, or if that’s not possible, a fountain rising and falling.
A person wants to stand in a happy place, in a poem.
When the woman turned I could not answer her face.
Her beauty and her embarrassment struggled together,
and neither could win.
She smiled and I smiled. What kind of nonsense is this?Everybody needs a job.
Her beauty and her embarrassment struggled together,
and neither could win.
She smiled and I smiled. What kind of nonsense is this?Everybody needs a job.
Yes, a person wants to stand in a happy place, in a poem.
But first we must watch her as she stares down at her labor,
which is dull enough.
She is washing the tops of the airport ashtrays, as big as hubcaps,
with a blue rag.
Her small hands turn the metal, scrubbing and rinsing.
She does not work slowly, nor quickly, like a river.Her dark hair is like the wing of a bird.
But first we must watch her as she stares down at her labor,
which is dull enough.
She is washing the tops of the airport ashtrays, as big as hubcaps,
with a blue rag.
Her small hands turn the metal, scrubbing and rinsing.
She does not work slowly, nor quickly, like a river.Her dark hair is like the wing of a bird.
I don’t doubt for a moment that she loves her life.
And I want her to rise up from the crust and the slop and
fly down to the river.
This probably won’t happen.
But maybe it will.
If the world were only pain and logic, who would want it?
And I want her to rise up from the crust and the slop and
fly down to the river.
This probably won’t happen.
But maybe it will.
If the world were only pain and logic, who would want it?
Of course, it isn’t.
Neither do I mean anything miraculous, but only
the light that can shine out of a life. I mean
the way she unfolded and refolded the blue cloth,
The way her smile was only for my sake; I mean
the way this poem is filled with trees, and birds.
Neither do I mean anything miraculous, but only
the light that can shine out of a life. I mean
the way she unfolded and refolded the blue cloth,
The way her smile was only for my sake; I mean
the way this poem is filled with trees, and birds.
The message Oliver hopes to convey in "Singapore" is clearly social. In order to better understand the message of Oliver's poem, we must consider the setting. The speaker of the poem is a woman and so is the woman she sees. However, the similarities between the two end there. The speaker, who is undoubtedly a tourist, is leaving Singapore when she sees a woman "washing the tops of the airport ashtrays." Being the close-minded tourist she is, she immediately is in disgust with this woman's job. Her perspective changes dramatically when this woman smiles back at the her. The speaker immediately is humbled and realizes that while this work may be menial and not for the speaker herself, "everybody needs a job." To the woman living in Singapore, her job means everything. Being able to work as a woman makes life in an oppressive Singapore a little bit better and allow her to hopefully "rise up from the crust." While the tourist knows "that probably won't happen," she knows that this hope allows her to "stand in a happy place."
While this poem takes place in Singapore, it can also take place in numerous other places and still produce the same humbling effect. Oliver was trying to put a perspective on how we live and view life. She challenges us to "rip the darkness that comes from our eyes" that causes us to view those with menial jobs as inferior to us. She is reprimanding the culture, perhaps the American culture, that allows that mindset to prevail. Ironically, that mindset is not prevalent in areas like Singapore which is why the woman smiles genuinely at the speaker. Oliver is reminding her readers that an individual's life is filled will "trees and birds" that make them happy and that your own life may be filled with other different "trees and birds."
Your analysis in the second paragraph is solid. Your first paragraph could be strengthened by focusing sooner on the theme and including less narrative summary - you don't necessarily need to paraphrase the poem in order to analyze it.
ReplyDeleteI like your blog! Also, nice analysis. I'm trying to write an essay on this poem myself.
ReplyDeleteThe lady in the poem is cleaning the toilet
ReplyDeletenot an ashtray
ReplyDeletelove this analysis. to the unknown commenter, she is washing something ¨in the white bowl¨ which implies she´s washing something in the sink. I thought toilet at first too but she says she´s washing an ashtray later on.
ReplyDeleteShe is washing an ashtray in the toilets of the airport. Depending on the decade that toilet is either in the floor or chairlike.
DeleteHer disgust comes initially, I gather, from her washing in the toilet.
I agree that there is a disconnect and then connection between the two women in the restroom stall.
ReplyDeleteThe speaker goes through several states of being.
Initially she is disgusted, seeing a women kneeling in the “crust and slop” of the bathroom floor.
She then reconciles the idea that all life, no matter the circumstances, cherishes the fact that it is ‘alive!’
The speaker than moves to a wish to have the women be able to seek respite and refuge at the river.
-The poet herself found safety and sanity in nature.
She then moves to the universal “if the world were only pain and logic, who would want it?”
But in-spite of, despite of, the suffering we all will endure the desire to live and keep living is met each day with abandon and won.