Hirshfield's Poem 'Three Times My Life Has Opened'

Three Times My Life Has Opened The poem is written in a free verse style meaning, there is no rhyme scheme or meter to the poem. It is almost like you are reading different verses. One of the elements of this poem is visual imagery, and the reader experiences this when they read lines eight and nine. Hirshfield describes the sight outside her window as “But outside my window all day a maple tree has stepped from her leaves like a woman in love with winter, dropping the colored silks” (Hirshfield 657). Of course a tree cannot actually step from her leaves but Hirshfield paints this visual image of the tree dropping its leaves in preparation for winter. The last lines of the poem continue to build on the mystery and are a cryptic, sad description of a door. The author talks about a door existing, opening, and closing. The reader is left to wonder is this an actual door or is the word door symbolic and life like. This example of figurative language encourages the reader to think about the symbolism of the light peeking out under the door. “But here a slip of light stays, like a scrap of unreadable paper on the floor, or
the one red leaf the snow releases in March” (658). The bit of light and the unreadable slip of paper are significant because they indicate light will triumph over darkness, and ultimately good things can prevail. The essence of the poem is recognized when she says “You will recognize what I am saying or you will not.” She slips this in there with a simple tone. They way I took it was it was okay if the reader did not understand everything that was being said (Encyclopedia). Dickinson inspired Hirshfield to write this poem and she used some of the same elements. The first line of the poem “Three Times My Life Has Opened” is also the title of the poem. That is how Dickinson starts off all her work. This poem is consistent to Emily Dickinson’s style of writing because it examines deeply into a life experience like love. Our text tells us “Dickinson’s poems do not encompass a wide rage of experience; instead they probe deeply into a few of life’s major experiences love, death, doubt, and faith” (Diyanni 632). Another similarity between Hirshfield and Dickinson is that the poems are very condensed, in the short poems that she does write theres is many details and imagery, just like Hirshfirlds “Three Times My Life Has Opened.” Both poets require the reader to read the poem multiple times to get a understanding of the poem. When I was reading the poem I found it difficult to understand exactly what the author was trying to convey.
I did appreciate that it was shorter and condensed and found that as I read the lines over it became a little easier for me to interpret it. I did like the visual imagery that Hirshfield used and thought that helped keep me interested and wanting to continue to read. I am still building on my life experiences and I can’t really relate to such deep examination of my own personal experiences. I did identify with the idea of a door opening, and closing and feel that there is always opportunity for more positive things to come someone’s way. It might be like the saying when one door closes another door opens, or maybe the door is never truly closed. I believe that life is a journey not a race and there is always the possibility for
change. The poem Three Times my Life has opened by Jane Hirshfield is remarkably similar to the poetic style of Emily Dickinson. Both poets used figurative language, visual imagery, and a simplistic condensed writing style to examine some of life’s big pieces like love, death, and more. Dickinson was recognized as one of the greatest poets of all time, even though she was criticized for her unique writing style. I enjoyed reading the work of Jane Hirshfield and have a better understanding and appreciation for this style of poetry.