Just glancing over “Window / Candle” by Laura Mullen, I was intrigued by the way the poem’s form flitted across the page. Hoping to find an explanation behind the distinct form of the poem, I read closer and discovered, much to my pleasure, that the form mimics the content of the poem in quite a clever way (something I love in poems). Reading even further, I found a plethora of lovely little metaphors, tied together by the larger metaphor of “the flame”, which all combined to convey a touching, almost heartbreaking, message.
Quite simply, the poem tells a story of loss. Though it is not clear whom exactly the narrator lost, the loss has left the narrator in an unstable state of grief and uncertainty about the world. Though she attempts to employ logic and proceed on with her life, she cannot seem to overcome the devastation that has invaded her emotions. The poem is a brief snapshot into the world of someone who is still freshly upturned by grief and loss. Though the poem is rather short, it still manages to impart a general feeling of instability and mourning, making it a little but powerful piece of work.
The poem is nearly brimming with small metaphors that express the narrator’s state of anguish, but it is dominated by an overarching metaphor of the narrator as the flame. The narrator first sets the mood for the poem by personifying the flame as someone dancing a “sputtering dance” (line 4). Not only does the word “dance” imply movement, but the fact that it is a “sputtering dance” also helps convey the jitter and shakiness of the narrator (line 4). In order to further convey her state, the narrator then calls the candle a “tattered flame”, therefore comparing it to a worn and shredded rag and even further setting her mood. There is also much description of the narrator being in empty space or without walls, demonstrating her sense of vulnerability. For instance, the flame is trapped “in a draft between / doors,” and the “softening” wax walls of the candle are melting around her (lines 6-9). This sense of everything crumbling down and being in a cold, open space helps paint the picture of loneliness and grief that the author is experiencing.
The narrator employs even more metaphor in personifying her “understanding” as a person looking in a mirror (line 16). In her own words, her “‘understanding’ / turns back / halted at reflecting / glass / to [her] need / for meaning in this / life” (line 16-22). In short, though logically the narrator understands the reason for which she lost her loved one, she needs “meaning in [her] life” more than she needs such an understanding (line21-22). As a result, her understanding is forced to turn back around. The narrator’s clever personification of “understanding” and use of the mirror helps literally depict the abstract battles in her head.
Towards the end of the poem, the narrator’s “vision / of the world” comes to be symbolized as a flame that is extinguished by the “flashing dark and bright” rainstorms of the sky (lines 26-30). Like a rainstorm puts out a candle, the loss of her loved one destroys the narrator’s view of the world; the flame disappears just as her loved one did.
In the final stanza, the narrator brings together the overarching comparison of herself to the flame of the candle. In short, she is “the light / drowned in its own / fuel” (lines 33-35). Her “fuel” (what kept her going in life), is whoever it is that she has lost, and ultimately she looses or “drowns” in her obsession over her “fuel” (loved one). The narrator is the flame, and by the end of the poem she has been completely extinguished.
Besides numerous metaphors, the narrator also uses the physical shape of the poem to illustrate her message. Except for quotation marks, the poem has absolutely no punctuation. This lack of grammar helps to mimic the lack of order and the general feeling of chaos the narrator feels after loosing someone so dear to her. The only punctuation she does employ (the quotation marks) helps demonstrate that she is merely reciting the phrases in the quotes; they are not her words or what she genuinely feels. Rather, the narrator is regurgitating the lines of someone in grieving. In addition, the spacing and form of the poem, which darts back and forth across the page, almost perfectly mimics the movement of the “sputtering dance” the flame performs (line 4). Simply look at the physical shape of the poem, one can feel the restless jump of both the flame and the narrator.
Though I originally picked this poem because I liked it, as I analyzed I developed a deeper appreciation for the poem. I think that he way the metaphors mix and flow together is quite beautiful, and I love the author’s use of shape to help tell the story of the poem. Though somewhat depressing, I think it is a clever and well-done piece.
A thoughtful reading of a challenging poem. I appreciate the careful way you look at both the poet's language and the use of form. But, I wonder if another kind of organization might not be better--instead of breaking up your analysis into different ways of looking at the poem--metaphor, form, etc.--I generally think that moving methodically, chronologically through a poem is best, allows you the chance to say most of what you want to say most clearly. I also think that the interpretation comes through most clearly that way. There are exceptions, of course, but it's something to think about. Also, while I think there is some fine reading here, I would point you toward the opening lines: "this light that looks like
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outside is inside
sputtering dance
of tattered flame." As I read this, the speaker is looking at a light that "looks like lightning outside" but is actually "inside," a "sputtering dance/of tattered flame." In other words, I think there is a candle reflected in a window, which both reflects that which is within and offers a view of that which is without. Your comments about the flame as a figure for selfhood are interesting and aren't incompatible with this, but I think that before you look for symbolism, you need to make sure you are as clear as possible about the physical setting/situation of a poem.