Patrick McEvoy-Halston

English453lQ01
ProfessorDoug Beardsley
7 August2002

IntroductionsandInitiations: Our Experiencewith the Masterin Phyllis Webb's"To Friends

Who HaveAlso Considered

Suicide."

Phyllis Webb's"To FriendsWho HaveAlso ConsideredSuicide"is a deceptivepoern.

Ratherthan being.dJ6edicated to thosewho havealreadyconsideredsuicide,it is, instead,a

rite of passage,
rite passage,an initiation
initiation ritual
rifual conducted
conductedby an experienced
enced"master" who would have us

*v /
shareher enlightened state. The processis painful, and the rewards,mixed. We seem.to ascend

at the expenseof others. Our westemheritage,ow leaders,our institutionsaremadeto se€rn

banal,tired. But sheherselfconveysso muchurgency,sopassionatea desireto "show us the

way," anddisplaysan imaginationwhich not only knocksdown old worlds but hints of a

capacityto conjurecolourful new vistas,that, in the end,we finish the poernfeeling grateful,

..pD;r o) despiteher trickery.

\f
\a After readingthe title, we begin the poemwonderingif shemeansfor us to be readingit.

Are we her friends? Doesshemeanto speakonly to thosesheis intimatewith andare"in the

know"? While our statusis uncertain,we know immediatelythatwe areattendingto a master:

shebeginswith a confident,didactic"It [is]." And by the way shechoosesto introducethe

poem,we soonintuit that the poemis written for thosewho might be anxiousaboutexploringa

poemseeminglyaboutsuicide,thatbeing,theuninitiated,us. The first two lines arekept short,

asif grvingus time to prepareourselves.Eachline is well balancedboth visually andin syllabic

\
ilf .x weightbeforeandafter"4" in thefirst ling and'1s,"in thesecondline. Whenwe considerwhat
-/
'f follows, thesetwo lines seema sfurdyspaceto readyourselvesbeforecrossingan obvious

threshold.

The colon at the end of the secondline, and a mystery which requires we move fonvard
to haveanyhopeof understanding its meaning,propelsus onward. The first two linesare
aL-$\
enigmatic.What is a "good idea,"to considerconrmittingsuicideorffi;o the concept
\sider
of suicide?What doesexerciseor disciplinehaveto do with suicide?Isn't sdrd" impulsive?

Our master,by harnessingour curiosity,takesus througha threshold,a succession

of lines

which beginwith the words,"to remember,"which monetarily,aswith a gateway,confinesus.

We, too, in a sympatheticresponseto this four line stnrcfure,imagineourselvesasconfined,our

bodiesasinflexible,asparalysedasis this sequence

of thepoem.

The movementin theselinesis of somethingor someoneelse,perhapsdeath,perhaps

suicide,perhapsthe poetwho comeswith eachsuccessive

line closerandcloserto us. From

"sheet" to "caf'to "clothes"to "eat," somethingmovesfrom beingdistantandexternalto

ourselvesto beinga presenceon the cuspof becomingan internalpresencewithin us. And, asif

in throughthe mouth,into the bloodandinto our brain,this presenceactslike a virus which, now

controllingour centralnervoussystem,hasus useour musculatureto kill ourselves.We arenow

initiated,the presencewasthat of our masterpreparingus,by mutilatingour bodies,for ogr new

spirifualascension,
andwe arenow mostcertainlyamongstthosewho haveconsideredsuicide.

But aswith all painful initiations,thereis thepromiseof a reward. As if we now possess

new powers,new capacities,shehasus surveyfriends,family, philosophers,

politicians,

financiers,thosewe haveformerlypeopledour world with andwith advantage:we cause

"emotions,"we cause"emba:Tassment,"
andwe avoidthemeaninglessness
of lives which

consistof settingup pointlessactivities,whetherthe "fswimming] of lakes"or the "fclimbing] of

flagpoles." In contrast,our "daily walk," sheargues,is no routine,no "exercise,"no confrivance

which wasteslife. It is insteadan opportunityto live in sucha way that our life hassomuch

spirit that it becomesalmost,like "sandin the teeth,"an irritant to death.

 But howrewardingis mocker5dA newbrethrenofthosewhosedailyoccupation
is to
L
.t>pu the"sins"of othersis toomuchlike thatof a monasticbrotherhood
^-o6ntemplate to beappealing.
- '-t(

--{ Fortunately,our masterwould haveus spendlittle time conternplatingour'lilestem fact " our

past,our collectivewasteof a heritage. We shorddnow, aspost-modemsdo, look eastward,

Despiteher manipulative,perhapsrude inhoductionto us, we likely appreciateour time

with someonewith sucha passionatedesireto takeus places,to showandtell us things,andwho

declaresover and6vsr ageinwith sertaintyandwith a life affinning tong "it is." She_doesn't

tell us what we can expecteastwards,but ifthere thereare'tright crustaceans

ofthe oversky,"

sucha delightfrrlimage,or if we migbt somehowfashionthemtheir, we havecauseto think

ourselvesnewly enlightenedandinspiredby our poet,our masterwho walks with death.

\\--$<L - *q"- ( ***gS--;jst*SI](:{

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 Work Cited

Webb,Phyllis. 'oToFriendsWho HaveAlso ConsideredSuicide." 15CanadianPoetsX3. Ed.

GaryGeddes.Toronto: Oxford, 2001. 142-143.