AN ALBUM As far as Tm concerned, being any gender isa drag 1» poetry, as in life, the meaning of what is said to us depend in great part on ‘who says it. In both contexts, too, our sense of who a speaker (or any person) is thas much to do with gender, even when we aren't aware of it. Is this person a he ora she? Those little pronouns make al the difference. [As an experiment, look back at one or two of the poems in the last chapter. ‘At what point, and for what reason, did you first decide that a poem’s speaker was male or female? Did you ever change your mind? Does any speaker's gender seem ‘more ambiguous now, on a second reading of the poem, than it did on the first read- ing? What difference does the speaker's gender make to your response? How might your response relate to the ways the poem does or doesn't conform to your expec- tations of men and women? What is the effeet of the correspondence (or lack thereof) between the author's gender and the speaker's? Despite all we have said about the danger of confusing the author of a poem with its speaker(s), in practice we usually use our knowledge of an author's gender in determining a speakers gender, particularly when the latter is ambiguous. For example, consider William Wordsworth's poem Sitr DWFLT MONG THE LXTRODDEN ‘Wars (ch, 10) The title tells us that the poem describes a “she,” whom we later learn is “A Maid—that is, an unmarried woman, probably young and virginal, named Lucy (lines 3, 10). But what about the speaker? On the one hand, we know that Lucy’s death and burial make all "[tJhe difference” to this person (line 12), and the poem also gives us plenty of reasons to suspect that the speaker is among the “very few” who “loveld]” Lucy (line 4), at the very least finding her flowerlike and “fair (lines 5, 7). On the other hand, you might be surprised to discover that nothing in the poem establishes the speaker's gender beyond a reasonable doubt. Yet based on these few euwes—on the fact that the poem is written by Willian Wordsworth, on our experience of the ways men and women tend to feel and talk about each other, and on the ways a Iyrie is likely to portray the lost beloved—we almost inevitably assume as we read that the speaker is a man. In the absence of definitive textual cues about a speaker's gender, such assump- tions are perfectly acceptable and conventional, perhaps even inevitable, But itis nonetheless important (and just plain interesting) to notice that when we assign gender to the speaker of some poems, we are making an assumption—one that arcatly affects our reading and response. Notice, too, that in assigning gender we often draw on assumptions about sexuality as well, often taking it for granted that people are heterosexual. When it comes to gender we need to pay attention to all the details that a poem gives us, as well as to those it withholds. We also need to be ready for surprises and to look for evidence that might overtum, or at least 749780 EXPLORING GENDER: AN ALBUM complicate, our assumptions. For example, Shakespeare's sonnets famously include some addressed to a young man, others addressed to a woman, and still others that are ambiguous, especially when read independently of the rest of the sonnets in the sequence. In some cases, the erotic charge of the poems, combined with our own tendency to believe that love poems must be addressed from a man to a woman or vice versa, might well lead us to make problematic assumptions about the gender of the speaker or the lover. To help you think more about these issues, this album gathers poems whose speakers vary widely, In one way or another, however, all of these poems invite us to explore our ideas and feelings about gender and, to a lesser extent, sexuality What does it mean to be a man or a woman? What has it meant in other times and places? Might gender be more complex than the phrases man or woman and he or she suggest? When, where, and how do we acquire our ideas about gender appropriate roles, qualities, behavior, and appearance? Are some or al of these “ideas” not learned at all, but rather innate or instinetual? When and why might having a gender be a burden? a pleasure? How does gender shape our exper: ence? our sense of ourselves and others? our interactions with, and our emotional responses to, poems and people? RICHARD LOVELACE Song: To Lucasta, Going to the Wars Tell me not, sweet, Iam unkind, ‘That from the nunnery OF thy chaste breast and quiet mind “To war and arms I fly. 5 ‘True: a new mistress now I chase, “The first foe in the field; ‘And with a stronger faith embrace [A sword, a horse, a shield Yet this inconstancy is such 1 Asyou too shall adore; could not love thee, dear, so much, Loved I not honor mare. 1649 += What might this poem imply about men’s and women's attitudes toward love and war? MARY, LADY CHUDLEIGH To the Ladies Wife and servant are the same, But only differ in the name: For when that fatal knot is tied, ‘Which nothing, nothing can divide,WILFRED OWEN Disabled 751 5 When she the word Obey has said, ‘And man by law supreme has made, ‘Then all that’s kind is laid aside, And nothing left but state! and pride: Fierce as an eastern prince he grows, © And all his innate rigor shows. “Then but to look, to laugh, or speak, Will the nuptial contract break. Like mutes, she signs alone must make, And never any freedom take, 1s But still be governed by a nod, ‘And fear her husband as her god Him still must serve, him still obey, And nothing act, and nothing say, But what her haughty lord thinks fit, 20. Who, with the power, has all the wit “Then shun, ob! shun that wretched state, And all the fawning flatterers hate Value yourselves, and men despise You must be proud, if you'll be wise. 1703, * What might the speaker mean when she says a husband “with the power, thas all the wit" (line 20)? How might that statement multiply the meanings of the poem's last line? WILFRED OWEN Disabled He satin a wheeled chai, waiting for dark, And shivered in his ghastly suit of grey Legless, sewn short at elbow: Through the park Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn, 5 Voices of play and pleasure after day “Till gathering sleep had mothered tl sm from him, About this time ‘Town used to swing so gay ‘When glow-lamps budded in the light blue trees, And girls glanced lovelier as the air grew dim,— 10 In the old times, before he threw away his knees. Now he will never feel again how slim Girls! waists are, or how warm their subtle hands; All of them touch him like some queer disease. "There was an artist silly for his fac, 15 For it was younger than his youth, last year Now, he is old; his back will never brace; 1, Social position,182. EXPLORING GENDER: AN ALBUM He's lost his color very far from heve, Poured it down shell-holes till the veins ran dry, And half his lifetime lapsed in the hot race, ‘And leap of purple spurted from his thigh One time he liked a blood: smear down his le, After the matches,? carried shoulder-high It was after football, when he'd drank a peg,* He thought he'd better join —He wonders why. Someone had said he'd look a god in kilts, That's why; and may be, too, to please his Meg: ‘Aye, that was it, to please the giddy jilts He asked to join. He didn't have to beg: Smiling they wrote his lie; aged nineteen years, Germans he scarcely thought of; all their guilt, [And Austria’, did not move him, And no feats OF Fear came yet. He thought of jeweled hilts For daggers in plaid socks; of smart salutes ‘And care of arms; and leave; and pay arrears; Esprit de corps; and bits for young recruits. And soon, he was drafted out with drums and cheers Some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheer Goal Only a solemn man who brought him fruits Thanked him; and then inquired about his soul Now, he will spend a few sick years in Institutes, And do what things the rules consider wise, ‘And take whatever pity they may dole ‘Tonight he noticed how the women’ eyes Passed from him to the strong men that were whole How cold and late itis! Why don't they come ‘And put him into bed? Why dont they come? Ir + How might you respond differently to this poem if the soldier himself were the speaker? if the poem described the events of his life in the order in which they happened? ifthe poem lacked is last two lines? ELIZABETH BISHOP Exchanging Hats Unfunny uncles who insist in tying on a ladys hat, —oh, even if the joke falls flat, swe share your slight transvestite twist in spite of our embarrassment Costume and custom are complex: 2, Soccer games. 3A drink, usually brandy and sods