On this page, we'll take a look at an especially difficult, dark poem titled "In the Desert," and
figure out what we think it means...
In the Desert
In the desert I saw a creature, naked, bestial, who,
squatting upon the ground, Held his heart in his hands, And ate of it. I said, "Is it good, friend?" "It is
bitter -- bitter," he answered; "But I like it Because it is bitter, And because it is my heart."
Want to get the full effect? Click the video below to see the poem being read:
What we thought this poem was about:
Robin's Analysis:
I think this poem has to do with us being our own worst enemy. Sometimes we can get down
on ourselves, feeling "bitter" and rejecting who we are. This poem represents literally that we can "eat" ourselves
by worrying and stressing all the time, when what we really need to do is accept who we are and what life is about. This
poem could also symbolize a tragedy of experiencing love pains through the heart, in which someone else actually
takes pieces of your heart. When you're stripped down to nothing, all you have is yourself, and sometimes it's
too much to handle! The fact that we are "creatures" in the desert, gives the idea that we are a small part of a big
world, insignificant yet important at the same time. It's an interesting thought! This poem has just
one stanza, but the tone is very dark and mysterious. It's really up to the individual to translate the meaning...
Maria's Analysis:
I think the creature was once a person. The person has ruined his life so bad that now he's only
a creature. The heart seems to be the creature's innocence and he is destroying it. The creature is so insane that destroying
his heart seems to be a good thing because he will neither feel pain anymore and will then truly be a creature with no feeling
or thought.
Jim's Analysis:
I believe that this story is possibly about a person who is in
a crisis about thier addiction with something that is ruining thier life. I think that the desert is his/her mind that where
they are thinking and that is where it sees itself (creature) with its heart (life) in its hands and continues
to eat (destroy) its own life and although doing these things are bad and this ends up doing bad things to his/her life it
likes doing it because its his/her life.
Also doesn't the description of the creature kind of give you a picture of this guy:
