Adrienne Rich, "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers"

Aunt Jennifer's tigers prance across a screen,

Bright topaz denizens of a world of green.
They do not fear the men beneath the tree;
They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.

Aunt Jennifer's finger fluttering through her wool

Find even the ivory needle hard to pull.
The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band
Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer's hand.

When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie

Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.
The tigers in the panel that she made
Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.

"Aunt Jennifer's Tigers" is a 1951 poem by American poet Adrienne Rich.

It appeared in her first published book of poems, A Change of World.
Told from the perspective of an anonymous speaker, the poem describes
a woman, Aunt Jennifer, who crafts vibrant tapestry panels (depicting
tigers) to escape—mentally, at least—her unhappy marriage. Written at a
time when divorce was unacceptable, the poem criticizes the traditional
institution of marriage, suggesting that it oppresses women.

Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers Summary

The poet expresses the inner feelings of a woman – Aunt Jennifer. The
aunt is embroidering a motif comprising of energetic, fearless tigers
moving freely around the bright greenery.
She is living a life of submissiveness to her husband’s command. Her acts
are dominated by him and she fears him constantly. This pattern of the
free and fearless tigers reflects her inner desire to live a free and fearless
life. The tigers are graceful, elegant and bright.
Aunt Jennifer’s fingers tremble as she embroiders. She is old but still
fears her husband. She does not enjoy the freedom to do anything as per
her wish. She is scared doing the embroidery too and fears his wrath.
Since the day she got married, she has been fulfilling the demands of her
husband. The wedding ring on her hand is a constant reminder that she
belongs to her husband. The burden of the demanding marriage has
exhausted her. The torment will not end until her death.
Even after her death, the ring will remain on her hand and she will never
be free. On the other hand, the tigers that she is embroidering will
continue to move around freely forever. Her desire of freedom and
fearlessness will live on through her tigers.
―Aunt Jennifer's Tigers‖ Symbols

Tiger
The tigers in the poem symbolize the freedom and confidence that
seem unattainable to Aunt Jennifer in her real life. While the tigers
are vibrant and bold, described with powerful, active verbs like
"prance" and "pace," Aunt Jennifer is too weak to even handle her
needle. While the tigers live freely in a beautiful "world of green,"
Aunt Jennifer is stuck being a homemaker. While the tigers "do not
fear the men," Aunt Jennifer is scared of her own husband.

Aunt Jennifer's innermost desires for freedom—in a time when a

woman requesting a divorce was likely extremely rare and
certainly frowned upon—are thus expressed through the tigers.
They are symbols of the liberated, joyous state of being that evades
Aunt Jennifer.

The tigers represent not only a freedom from man-made

constraints (like marriage) in the tangible world but also represent
a unique freedom that no man or woman can hope to attain—that
is, a freedom from death itself. The final lines emphasize that the
tigers "will go on" even "When Aunt is dead." Since the tigers are
inanimate, captured within a tapestry, they can theoretically exist
forever. As a symbol of immortality, they highlight the fact that
even men—who might try to rule the world through patriarchal
institutions like marriage—are not all powerful. They are all fallible
and none of them will exist forever.

Tree

The tree referenced in line 3 can be seen to symbolize one of two

things. One reading of the tree can see it simply as a symbol for the
natural world. This single tree is a small representation of the
larger forest, the "world of green," that the tigers presumably
inhabit. The "men" referred to might in this case be hunters.
Positioning the men "beneath the tree" suggests a power hierarchy,
namely that the natural world will always persevere over the
machinations of men. Indeed, certain species of animals and trees
live much longer than humans—and even a tiny creature like a
cockroach can outlive conditions that a human cannot.

This reading ties in with the view of the tigers as a symbol of

freedom from the mortal world: since the tigers are technically
inanimate, captured as part of an artwork that literally cannot die,
they will outlive Aunt Jennifer, Uncle, and any human institution
like marriage.

Another reading of "the tree" is that it is a reference to the tree, as

in, it is an allusion to the biblical Tree of Knowledge of Good and
Evil. In Genesis, when Eve ate fruit from the tree at the urging of
the serpent, the Fall of man resulted; human beings were cast out
of paradise, and shame and sin were introduced into the world.
Eve was subsequently marked as the "weaker" sex, since she gave
into the serpent's temptations (while Adam did not).

At the same time, the biblical tree is associated with free will and
deviation from a higher power. Thinking of the tree as a symbol for
the Tree of Knowledge thus speaks to the theme of female
subordination within traditional male/female relationships like
marriage. Whereas in her real life Aunt Jennifer is treated as
subservient to her husband, in the tapestry it is "men" who are
"beneath"—subservient to—"the tree," and to the tigers that
Jennifer has created.

The Wedding Band

The wedding band is a symbol of the institution of marriage and

speaks to the poem's broader thematic ideas surrounding
marriage, gender, and power. The depiction of the ring as
 burdensome speaks to the argument that the power dynamic of a
traditional heterosexual marriage serves to oppress women.

The way that the band is described in lines 7 and 8 highlights this,
as the band is described as sitting "heavily" on Aunt Jennifer's
hand, as if it's weighing her down. It's also attributed with a
"massive weight," a bit of hyperbole that confirms the reader's
suspicion that it's not the ring itself that burdens Aunt Jennifer but
what the ring represents—her marriage. The fact that it
is Uncle's wedding band affirms this interpretation, making it clear
that the man holds the power in the relationship, leaving Aunt
Jennifer in the subservient role.

The reference to the symbol of the wedding band in lines 9 and 10

further supports this view. The phrase "ringed with ordeals she
was mastered by" is a nod to the previously mentioned ring. The
use of the word "mastered" in this instance again paints a picture
of Aunt Jennifer as being in the subservient role, the "slave" to the
"master" Uncle.

Diving into the Wreck

Adrienne Rich - 1929-2012

First having read the book of myths,

and loaded the camera,

and checked the edge of the knife-blade,

I put on

the body-armor of black rubber

the absurd flippers

the grave and awkward mask.

I am having to do this

not like Cousteau with his

assiduous team

aboard the sun-flooded schooner

but here alone.

There is a ladder.

The ladder is always there

hanging innocently

close to the side of the schooner.

We know what it is for,

we who have used it.

Otherwise

it is a piece of maritime floss

some sundry equipment.

I go down.

Rung after rung and still

the oxygen immerses me

the blue light

the clear atoms

of our human air.

I go down.

My flippers cripple me,

I crawl like an insect down the ladder

and there is no one

to tell me when the ocean

will begin.

First the air is blue and then

it is bluer and then green and then

black I am blacking out and yet

my mask is powerful

it pumps my blood with power

the sea is another story

the sea is not a question of power

I have to learn alone

to turn my body without force

in the deep element.

And now: it is easy to forget

what I came for

among so many who have always

lived here

swaying their crenellated fans

between the reefs

and besides

you breathe differently down here.

I came to explore the wreck.

The words are purposes.

The words are maps.

I came to see the damage that was done

and the treasures that prevail.

I stroke the beam of my lamp

slowly along the flank

of something more permanent

than fish or weed

the thing I came for:

the wreck and not the story of the wreck

the thing itself and not the myth

the drowned face always staring

toward the sun

the evidence of damage

worn by salt and sway into this threadbare beauty

the ribs of the disaster

curving their assertion

among the tentative haunters.

This is the place.

And I am here, the mermaid whose dark hair

streams black, the merman in his armored body.

We circle silently

about the wreck

we dive into the hold.

I am she: I am he

whose drowned face sleeps with open eyes

whose breasts still bear the stress

whose silver, copper, vermeil cargo lies

obscurely inside barrels

half-wedged and left to rot

we are the half-destroyed instruments

that once held to a course

the water-eaten log

the fouled compass

We are, I am, you are

by cowardice or courage

the one who find our way

back to this scene

carrying a knife, a camera

a book of myths

in which

our names do not appear.

Summary
―Diving into the Wreck‖ is a ten-stanza poem written in free verse with
heavy enjambment. The first stanza shows the speaker, ―having read the
book of myths,‖ making preparations for a dive that she will take alone.
The second and third show her climbing down a boat’s ladder. In the
fourth and fifth, she confronts and describes the blue-green world of the
ocean. In the six and seventh, she explains her reasons for exploring the
wreck: the ―damage it has done,‖ its hidden treasures. In particular, she
wants to confront the truth of the wreck rather than its ―story.‖ The
poem becomes more metaphorical in stanza eight, when the speaker
confronts and identifies with both a mermaid and a merman. Using the
pronoun ―we‖ to include both these figures as well as the reader, she
concludes that ―we‖ survey the wreck, ― carrying/ a book of myths / in
which/ our names do not appear.‖

Diving into the Wreck Themes

History:
In this poem, the speaker travels down into the ocean to investigate
something that was wrecked in the past. The shipwreck and its algae-
covered statutes and treasures are thus a metaphor for history. Equipped
with a camera to document her investigation and a knife to protect
herself, her goal is to go find out what is true in that history, what can be
separated from the ―book of myths‖ so many are taught to believe. In
particular, she is interested in those whose names are not even written in
the books of history as they exist.

Women's Erasure:
Closely related to the theme of history is the theme of women’s
erasure. The speaker dives into the wreck carrying ―a book of myths in
which our names do not appear.‖ Given Rich’s interest in feminism, this
clearly refers to women’s experience. Her identification with both a
mermaid and merman seems to suggest that she is not just speaking for
women, but also for other figures who have been left out of history. In
identifying with two genders, we might also see her taking on the mantle
of the androgynous and queer alongside women. All of these figures have
been left behind and forgotten by history, but the speaker claims it is no
less than her mission to investigate their past and make sense of it.

The Role of Poetry and Art:

This is a poem about the urgency of exploring unwritten histories and
bringing them to light. Where, and in what form, should this exploring
be done? As scuba diving is clearly a metaphor, we can interpret this
poem to suggest that the role of poetry is to investigate the past and bring
it to light. The speaker suggests that exploration must be done without
seeking to gain power: ―the sea is not a question of power/ I have to learn
alone/ to turn my body without force/ in the deep element.‖ The sea is
often used as a symbol for the imagination or unconscious, so this
exploration of history clearly takes place alongside and within the
creation of art objects, and specifically, poems

Storm Warnings by Adrienne Rich

The glass has been falling all the afternoon,

And knowing better than the instrument
What winds are walking overhead, what zone
Of grey unrest is moving across the land,
I leave the book upon a pillowed chair
And walk from window to closed window, watching
Boughs strain against the sky
 And think again, as often when the air
Moves inward toward a silent core of waiting,
How with a single purpose time has traveled
By secret currents of the undiscerned
Into this polar realm. Weather abroad
And weather in the heart alike come on
Regardless of prediction.

Between foreseeing and averting change

Lies all the mastery of elements
Which clocks and weatherglasses cannot alter.
Time in the hand is not control of time,
Nor shattered fragments of an instrument
A proof against the wind; the wind will rise,
We can only close the shutters.

I draw the curtains as the sky goes black

And set a match to candles sheathed in glass
Against the keyhole draught, the insistent whine
Of weather through the unsealed aperture.
This is our sole defense against the season;
These are the things we have learned to do
Who live in troubled regions.

Summary
"Storm Warnings", by Adrienne Rich, is a poem about an oncoming storm. The
narrator is reading and realizes a storm is approaching. She gets up to watch
the storm from the window. Then, when the storm begins to get worse and
move closer, she makes preparations to get ready for the storm. She closes the
windows, shutters, and curtains. She also lights candles so it will not be dark.
She also talks about how a person cannot stop a storm from coming, they can
only prepare for it. I think this poem is not only talking about physical storms,
but also emotional storms. The narrator could be referring to troubles in her
life she has faced. The line "weather abroad and weather in the heart alike come
on, regardless of prediction" sounds as if she might be having some personal
struggles that she is dealing with. In the same way you cannot prevent storms
from happening, you cannot keep yourself from having problems. You can only
try to prepare for it the best you can and take precautions against it.

A Valediction Forbidding Mourning

My swirling wants. Your frozen lips.

The grammar turned and attacked me.
 Themes, written under duress.
Emptiness of the notations.

They gave me a drug that slowed the healing of wounds.

I want you to see this before I leave:

the experience of repetition as death
the failure of criticism to locate the pain
the poster in the bus that said:
my bleeding is under control

A red plant in a cemetary of plastic wreaths.

A last attempt: the language is a dialect called metaphor.

These images go unglossed: hair, glacier, flashlight.
When I think of a landscape I am thinking of a time.
When I talk of taking a trip I mean forever.
I could say: those mountains have a meaning
but further than that I could not say.

To do something very common, in my own way.

This poem was written in 1971. During the 1970s, Rich consciously
continued to reflect her deepening commitment to feminism through her
writing. Her experiences and observations of society have been reflected
in this poem. It was during the 1970s that Rich's husband committed
suicide. There are multiple interpretations of what this poem is about.
One interpretation views the poem as a metaphor for Rich's real
relationship with her husband. It suggests that his death perhaps caused
Rich to ponder about her own mortality and what she would leave behind
when she died.

However on closer inspection, it's evident that a more deeper meaning

can be derived. The poem explores the role of female poets and authors
in society. It highlights how women have been forced to conform to the
standards and ideals of the dominant men in terms of what they express
in their writing. However in both interpretations, the speaker is urging
the addressee to acknowledge what is being said.

Background Information

Adrienne Rich used the same title as John Donne's poem written in the
early 16th century. His poem entails the departure of two lovers. In it the
male speaker urges his lover not to mourn over their separation. He tells
her that their love doesn't require the need for the physical presence to
be validated.

Rich's utilization of the same title thus makes an interesting statement.

Firstly, she establishes that this poem is not about the love between a
man and a woman. The irony of using the title of a love poem only to
negate the whole idea of love is emphasized. Instead she writes of men
being hindrances to women by controlling their "swirling wants".
Secondly. the writer is a woman. As Donne's poem was widely read, to
now have a poem by the same title only written by a female re-
emphasizes the expected gender roles prevalent in society which Rich
defies by using writing this poem.