In the first stanza the author writes, “Tonight there must be people who are getting what they want. I let my oars fall into the water. Good for them. Good for them, getting what they want.” In this stanza I feel that the person is bitter and feels that they have somehow gotten a raw deal. The second line I think is a very good line, to me it is a metaphor that means she is giving up or she is done with everything. I think this sets the mood for the rest of the poem, I get the feeling that she is upset and done trying. I kn

In the second line of the second stanza the author writes, “The dark air is getting colder. Birds are leaving.” I feel this is important, but I also think that it is unique how it is placed in the poem. The two sentences by themselves really don’t lead you much into the thought of why the person wants to give up and why they are so bitter. I feel this stanza helps to lead into the fourth stanza where she is describing the person she lost. Knowing the content of the fourth stanza the second one better comes to light. By the dark air getting colder and the birds leaving symbolizes that when you have lost a loved one it can feel like you are all alone. It seems that death is associated with cold air and weather hence the air is getting colder.

In the final stanza the author writes; “Somewhere, people have entirely forgotten about tomorrow. My hand trails in the water. I should not have dropped those oars. Such a soft wind.” The first line goes back to the saying that you don’t know what you have until its gone, meaning the person in the poem ne

Some topics in this essay:
Michael Hecht, American Poetry, author writes, air getting colder, stanza author, air getting, getting colder, stanza author writes, getting colder birds, dark air getting, dark air, person bitter, colder birds, lost loved, feel person, fourth stanza,