"Request To A Year" is an unconventional poem where the speaker conveys a deep desire to resemble her great-great-grandmother. The rationale behind this wish is unique, which could lead to various interpretations of her motives. Written in free verse, Wright's poem employs several literary techniques that contribute to its overall effectiveness.
Request To A Year Poem by Judith Wright
If the year is meditating a suitable gift,
I should like it to be the attitude
of my great- great- grandmother,
legendary devotee of the arts,
who having eight children
and little opportunity for painting pictures,
sat one day on a high rock
beside a river in Switzerland
and from a difficult distance viewed
her second son, balanced on a small ice flow,
drift down the current toward a waterfall
that struck rock bottom eighty feet below,
while her second daughter, impeded,
no doubt, by the petticoats of the day,
stretched out a last-hope alpenstock
(which luckily later caught him on his way).
Nothing, it was evident, could be done;
And with the artist's isolating eye
My great-great-grandmother hastily sketched the scene.
The sketch survives to prove the story by.
Year, if you have no Mother's day present planned,
Reach back and bring me the firmness of her hand.
Summary of Request to a Year
‘Request to a Year’ by Judith Wright is a contemplative poem in which the speaker expresses a deep longing to adopt the attitude of her great-great-grandmother. The poem explores themes of composure, resilience, and the passing of time, as the speaker reflects on an incident from her ancestor’s life that embodies these qualities.
The speaker begins the poem by making a request to the "year," personifying it as if it were capable of granting wishes. The speaker’s request is not for material things but for an intangible gift—the attitude of her great-great-grandmother. This desire stems from the speaker’s admiration for her ancestor’s calmness and grace in the face of difficult situations.
As the poem progresses, the speaker explains what she means by wanting this attitude, referring to a specific event from her great-great-grandmother’s life. The speaker recalls a dramatic moment in the past when her great-great-grandmother's second son was in imminent danger of dying. The son, facing the prospect of falling to his death, was saved by the intervention of a walking stick. In this life-threatening situation, her great-great-grandmother remained remarkably composed. Rather than panicking, she calmly sketched the unfolding scene as if it were just another part of her daily life.
This moment is symbolic of the great strength and resilience of the great-great-grandmother. Despite the imminent danger and chaos, she remained focused and unshaken. The speaker admires this ability to maintain calmness in the face of crisis and wishes to embody this same quality in her own life.
Through this reflection, the poem emphasizes the contrast between the speaker’s present-day struggles and her ancestor’s peaceful and steadfast nature. The speaker’s request to the "year" is a desire to escape modern anxieties and embrace the composure and detachment her great-great-grandmother exhibited.
In essence, ‘Request to a Year’ reflects on how the speaker longs for an attitude of serenity and resilience, qualities embodied by her great-great-grandmother, whose calm presence in the face of danger provides a model for how to navigate the trials of life.
Themes in Request to a Year
In Request to a Year, Judith Wright explores a variety of significant themes, such as admiration, memory, and art. These themes are intricately woven into the poem, creating a rich tapestry of reflection on personal growth, legacy, and the passage of time.
- Admiration: The central theme of admiration is expressed through the speaker's deep respect for her great-great-grandmother. The speaker is not just fascinated by her ancestor's life, but she actively wishes to emulate her attitude. The admiration is so profound that the speaker views her great-great-grandmother's calm demeanor as a gift—one that she hopes to receive from the "year." The grandmother’s ability to remain composed and resilient during a life-threatening event is something the speaker aspires to, symbolizing the admiration the speaker holds for her strength and grace.
- Memory: The theme of memory is crucial to understanding the speaker’s connection to her great-great-grandmother. Although the speaker did not experience the event herself, the memory of it is passed down through the art of her great-great-grandmother. The memory of the past is kept alive and preserved through the creative act of sketching, which becomes a conduit for both the preservation of the memory and the passing of wisdom. The speaker’s engagement with this memory allows her to understand how her ancestor handled difficult situations, such as the near-death experience of her second son, and to learn from it.
- Art: Art plays a significant role in the poem, not only as a physical representation of memory but also as a medium for preserving emotional responses and experiences. The great-great-grandmother’s act of sketching the dangerous situation involving her son is described as an artistic process, symbolizing how art can transform a moment of crisis into something meaningful and enduring. The artwork becomes an enduring record of how the grandmother dealt with fear and adversity, and it is through this art that the speaker connects to her ancestor’s strength and composure. Art, in this sense, is not only a creative act but also a method of emotional expression and legacy-building that transcends generations.
- Legacy and Inheritance: Another subtle but important theme in the poem is the inheritance of values and attitudes from one generation to the next. While the speaker has not personally lived the experiences of her great-great-grandmother, she inherits her wisdom and outlook on life through the art piece left behind. This theme speaks to the continuity of human experience and how legacies are passed down—whether through tangible artifacts like art or intangible qualities like resilience and composure. The speaker’s request to the "year" reflects a desire to adopt the legacy of strength and calmness passed down through the generations.
In conclusion, the themes of admiration, memory, and art come together in Request to a Year to create a powerful meditation on how the past can influence the present. Through the speaker's engagement with the memory of her great-great-grandmother’s composure, she seeks to understand and adopt the values of strength, resilience, and artistry. These themes reflect the poet's exploration of how we are shaped by those who came before us and how we, in turn, carry forward their legacies.
Structure and Form in Request to a Year
‘Request to a Year’ by Judith Wright is a six-stanza poem with a distinctive structure. The poem is divided into five quatrains (four-line stanzas) and one final couplet (two-line stanza). This division of stanzas plays a significant role in shaping the overall flow and tone of the poem.
- Quatrains and Couplet: The poem consists of five quatrains, each containing four lines, followed by a final couplet that consists of two lines. The regularity of the quatrains helps to establish a sense of rhythm and balance in the poem. The couplet at the end, however, serves as a concise conclusion, offering a brief but impactful statement that encapsulates the speaker’s request.
- Irregular Rhyme and Meter: Unlike some poems that follow a strict rhyme scheme or metrical pattern, 'Request to a Year' does not adhere to any consistent rhyme or meter. The lack of a regular rhyme scheme gives the poem a more natural, conversational tone. The irregularity in meter reflects the speaker’s personal, reflective voice, allowing for a more flexible expression of her thoughts and emotions.
- Line Length: The lines of the poem vary in length, with some lines containing around thirteen syllables and others as few as six. This variation in line length mirrors the speaker's fluctuating emotions and thought processes. Longer lines often carry more descriptive or reflective content, while shorter lines provide moments of emphasis or conclusion, creating a dynamic rhythm throughout the poem.
- Overall Effect: The irregularity in rhyme, meter, and line length creates a sense of freedom and openness in the poem, allowing the speaker to express her desires and reflections without being constrained by formal structure. The poem’s form mirrors its content, emphasizing the speaker’s longing for a sense of connection with the past and the desire to inherit her great-great-grandmother’s attitudes toward life.
In conclusion, the structure and form of ‘Request to a Year’ complement the themes of the poem. By using an irregular rhyme scheme, varying line lengths, and ending with a concise couplet, Judith Wright enhances the reflective and personal tone of the poem, allowing the speaker's emotions and thoughts to come through in a fluid and natural way.
Literary Devices in Request to a Year
In ‘Request to a Year,’ Judith Wright employs several literary devices that enhance the depth and meaning of the poem. These devices include enjambment, alliteration, and apostrophe, each of which contributes to the poem's emotional impact and rhythmic flow.
- Apostrophe: An apostrophe is a literary device in which the speaker addresses something or someone that cannot respond. In this poem, the speaker addresses the "Year," which is an inanimate concept and unable to hear or respond. This device is particularly noticeable in the final two lines of the poem, where the speaker makes a direct request from the "Year" to give her the gift of her great-great-grandmother's attitude toward life. This interaction with an abstract concept adds a sense of longing and urgency to the speaker's words.
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words in close proximity. Wright uses alliteration to create rhythm and enhance the musicality of the poem. For instance, in the second line of the second stanza, the phrase "painting pictures" and the phrase "difficult distance" at the beginning of stanza three both feature alliteration. These repeated consonant sounds help establish a flow and draw attention to the imagery and ideas being presented, contributing to the poem's overall atmosphere.
- Enjambment: Enjambment is a device where a sentence or phrase continues beyond the end of a line without a pause or break. This device allows for a sense of continuation and movement, creating a seamless flow of thought. In ‘Request to a Year,’ enjambment is used effectively between lines two and three of the first stanza, as well as between the last line of the second stanza and the first line of the third stanza. The continuation of thoughts beyond the line breaks adds to the natural, reflective quality of the poem, mimicking the speaker’s ongoing reflections and desires.
These literary devices work together to enrich the poem’s themes of reflection, memory, and desire. The apostrophe creates a direct connection between the speaker and an abstract concept, while alliteration adds rhythm and musicality. Enjambment, on the other hand, ensures the poem flows smoothly and maintains the speaker's reflective tone, making the poem both engaging and meaningful.
Detailed Analysis of Stanzas One and Two in Request to a Year
In the first two stanzas of ‘Request to a Year,’ Judith Wright introduces a compelling narrative, using creative devices like personification and metaphor to explore the speaker's desire for a gift from the "year" and her admiration for her great-great-grandmother.
- Stanza One: The poem begins with the speaker addressing the "year" as if it were a conscious being capable of contemplation and decision-making. The speaker imagines that the year might be “meditating a suitable gift,” presenting the "year" as something that could ponder over what to give. This is an interesting example of personification, where a non-human entity is given human-like qualities. In doing so, the speaker invites the reader to view time not just as a passing force but as an active participant in the narrative.
- Desire for the Grandmother’s Attitude: The speaker then states that if the "year" is to give her a gift, she would like it to be her great-great-grandmother’s attitude toward life. This request introduces a metaphor where the speaker desires an intangible quality, the grandmother’s attitude, to be bestowed upon her. The use of the word “attitude” suggests the speaker wants to adopt her ancestor’s approach to life, one that seems admirable and worth emulating. This metaphor also emphasizes how the speaker views the grandmother’s perspective as a valuable treasure.
- The Grandmother’s Character: The first detail the reader learns about the grandmother is that she is a “legendary devotee of the arts.” This statement, though somewhat vague, suggests that the grandmother was deeply involved in artistic pursuits. At first, it might be unclear what exactly the speaker means by this, but the next stanza clarifies her admiration for the grandmother’s creativity and resilience.
As the poem progresses, the speaker reveals more about the grandmother’s life and the qualities that make her an ideal model for the speaker. These early stanzas set the stage for the exploration of admiration, artistic devotion, and the profound influence of family heritage. The speaker’s request for the year to gift her the grandmother’s attitude reveals a deeper yearning for qualities like resilience, creativity, and perspective that the speaker associates with the ancestor's approach to life.
- Stanza Two: In the second stanza, the speaker further develops the image of her great-great-grandmother. The grandmother, though a mother of “eight children,” had “little opportunity for painting pictures.” This introduces a significant aspect of the grandmother's life: despite her duties and responsibilities, she remained devoted to her artistic passions. This contrast between her busy life and her artistic pursuits adds depth to the speaker's admiration. It suggests that the grandmother’s commitment to her art was not defined by ideal conditions but by inner strength and dedication.
- Impact of the Grandmother’s Art: The speaker’s respect for the grandmother’s art grows when we learn that despite the challenges she faced, the grandmother’s artwork left a lasting impression on the speaker. This part of the poem sets up the pivotal event that showcases the grandmother's ability to capture meaningful moments in life, emphasizing the strength of character and resilience she embodied. The speaker clearly admires not just the artwork but also the spirit behind it—the ability to create even in the face of adversity.
In these stanzas, the speaker’s desire to adopt her great-great-grandmother's attitude is intricately tied to the legacy of resilience and artistry that has been passed down through generations. The grandmother's character, her commitment to her art, and the hardships she overcame all contribute to the speaker’s admiration and longing to emulate her ancestor’s mindset and approach to life.
Detailed Analysis of Stanza Three in Request to a Year
In the third stanza of ‘Request to a Year,’ Judith Wright builds on the tension established in the earlier stanzas. The speaker continues to describe the critical event involving the great-great-grandmother’s second son, using foreshadowing to heighten the sense of danger and inevitability.
- Setting and Foreshadowing: After the setting was established as “beside a river in Switzerland” in the previous stanza, the speaker delves deeper into the scene. She describes the second son walking on a small ice flow in the river, balancing precariously. This image introduces a sense of vulnerability and fragility, as ice is not a stable surface to walk on, especially in the context of a flowing river. The ice flow becomes a metaphor for precarious situations in life, where balance is delicate, and any misstep could lead to a catastrophic result. This moment of walking on ice sets the stage for the tension that follows.
- Pause for Effect: The speaker adds a dramatic pause at the end of the second line in the stanza. This pause gives the reader a moment to reflect on the uncertainty of the situation, building anticipation. The reader is left wondering what might happen to the son. This deliberate slowing down of the narrative allows the reader to experience a sense of foreboding before the tragic event unfolds.
- The Tragic Turn: Unfortunately for the great-great-grandmother’s son, the ice “struck rock bottom eighty feet below.” This line introduces the tragic outcome of the son’s attempt to balance on the ice flow. The imagery of the ice “striking rock bottom” conveys a sense of finality and disaster. The phrase “eighty feet below” adds to the sense of danger, amplifying the fall's severity. The height of the fall is a crucial detail that deepens the impact of the tragic event. The fact that the ice does not hold up reflects how fleeting moments of stability can collapse, leading to devastating consequences.
Wright’s use of foreshadowing and pause creates a sense of inevitability, preparing the reader for the tragic outcome. The speaker’s description of the ice flow, coupled with the tragic imagery of the fall, conveys the fragility of life and the unpredictable nature of fate. The great-great-grandmother’s son, in his attempt to navigate a dangerous situation, symbolizes the human struggle to maintain balance in the face of adversity, and the consequences of missteps.
Detailed Analysis of Stanza Four in Request to a Year
In the fourth stanza of 'Request to a Year,' the speaker continues to unfold the details of the life-threatening situation faced by the great-great-grandmother's son. This stanza highlights the actions of the second daughter, who attempts to help but faces physical and situational obstacles.
- The Daughter's Efforts: The speaker describes how the second daughter tried to assist her brother, but she was “impeded” by her petticoats. The word “impeded” here highlights the struggle the daughter faces due to the cumbersome nature of her clothing. The petticoats, which are large and heavy, serve as a symbol of the constraints placed on women during that era. They physically limit her ability to act quickly and prevent her from moving freely to save her brother.
- The “Alpenstock” as a Lifeline: Despite being hindered by her attire, the daughter still manages to “stretch out a last-hope alpenstock.” The alpenstock, a term referring to a metal-tipped walking stick, is a key object in this stanza. The word “alpenstock” is notable because it is an uncommon and specific term, evoking the mountainous regions of Switzerland. The stick becomes a symbol of hope in a critical moment. The daughter’s determination to use it despite the physical impediment speaks to her desperation and the urgency of the situation.
- The Saving Moment: The speaker then adds, almost as an afterthought, that the son was saved by the alpenstock. The casualness with which this piece of information is shared suggests that the focus is less on the son’s rescue and more on the intensity and climax of the moment. The speaker’s decision to present the son’s salvation in such a brief, matter-of-fact way underscores the tension and chaos of the event. In a way, the reader might feel as if they were more concerned with the impending danger and suspense than with the final resolution.
In this stanza, Wright uses the daughter’s struggle to highlight the limitations imposed by societal norms (represented by the petticoats), and the alpenstock becomes a tool of salvation, symbolizing human resilience in the face of obstacles. The nonchalant mention of the son’s survival contrasts with the buildup of suspense in the preceding lines, emphasizing the unpredictability and emotional impact of the situation.
Detailed Analysis of Stanzas Five and Six in Request to a Year
In the final two stanzas of Judith Wright's poem, the speaker reflects on the admirable qualities of her great-great-grandmother and the strength of her character, particularly in moments of crisis. These stanzas encapsulate the grandmother's ability to remain composed and focus on what she could control, even when the situation seemed hopeless.
- The Acceptance of Fate: In the first line of stanza five, the speaker states, “Nothing, it was evident, could be done.” This line communicates a sense of helplessness in the face of the impending disaster. The grandmother’s acceptance of the situation—recognizing that her son’s fate was sealed—reflects a certain stoicism and resilience. Rather than panicking or giving in to despair, she calmly faces the reality of the moment.
- The Artist’s Isolating Eye: The next part of the stanza describes how the grandmother sat with “the artist’s isolating eye.” The use of the term “isolating eye” refers to the perspective of an artist who must, in a sense, detach themselves from the emotional intensity of a situation in order to observe and capture it. By “isolating” her emotions, the grandmother is able to focus on the moment and memorialize it in a way that allows future generations to witness it. This emphasizes the grandmother’s role as both an artist and a witness, a combination of artistic discipline and emotional control.
- The Preservation of the Moment: The grandmother's act of sketching the scene hastily signifies her urgency to preserve the fleeting moment before it slips away. The speaker admires how the grandmother was able to turn a tragic event into a memorialized piece of art. This sketch, though born from a dire situation, becomes a lasting legacy, immortalizing not only the event but the grandmother’s attitude and perspective on life.
- Admiration for the Grandmother’s Attitude: The final two lines of the poem express the speaker’s desire to adopt her great-great-grandmother’s perspective. She wishes to have the same “firmness of her hand,” symbolizing strength, decisiveness, and clarity in the face of adversity. The phrase “the firmness of her hand” represents the grandmother's steadfastness and her ability to act with certainty even when faced with uncertainty. The speaker admires how her grandmother maintained composure and took practical steps in a moment of crisis, a trait the speaker wishes to emulate.
In these closing stanzas, Wright contrasts the grandmother’s pragmatic response to crisis with the speaker’s longing for the same qualities. The poem ends on a note of admiration and desire for personal growth, showing how the memory of the grandmother’s actions has been passed down and has influenced the speaker’s own outlook on life.
Similar Poetry to Request to a Year
Readers who enjoyed Judith Wright's "Request to a Year" might find the following poems equally engaging, as they explore similar themes of art, memory, and generational connections:
- ‘Artist’s Life’ by Ella Wheeler Wilcox – This poem delves into the emotional and personal connection the speaker has to Strauss’ composition, "Artist’s Life." Wilcox's work emphasizes the influence of art on the human experience and how it resonates deeply with the individual.
- ‘Now Art Has Lost its Mental Charms’ by William Blake – In this poem, the speaker converses with an angel, discussing the value of art and its changing significance. This work reflects on how art impacts the mind and soul, much like the way the great-great-grandmother’s artwork in "Request to a Year" memorialized a significant event.
- ‘For My Grandmother Knitting’ by Liz Lochhead – A repetition-filled poem in which the speaker portrays an older woman trying to remain relevant in the modern world. Like Wright’s grandmother, the grandmother in Lochhead’s poem is deeply connected to tradition, yet struggles to find her place in an ever-changing society.