Jane Hirshfield's Poetry

“Three Times My Life had opened,” was written by Jane Hirshfield from her collection called The Lives of the Heart. A background of Jane Hirshfield is she had always wanted to be a writer since childhood. She was first inspired by Japanese Haikus and culture, and “dedicated [years] exclusively to learning and practicing Zen Buddhism” (Napierkowshi). This is show as see adopts many aspects of the practice in her poetry. Although, she had been inspired by some cultures writing. “She had mention her Chief American influences. . . Emily Dickinson. . .” (Varner) play a big role in her poetry too. Particular, this poem had inspiration from Emily Dickinson’s own work.

The central idea of Hirshfield's “Three times my life had opened,” is a way to “addresses a spiritual awakening, metaphorically compared to the movement of autumn through winter and into spring” (Poetry for Students). A spiritual awakening is said to be a rich and complex experiences (Nirmala) that takes about three stages to start spiritual enlightenment in Buddhism. A Spiritual awakening is different to each person. However, most start when one is in a darker/low place in life, and recognize they are. “Three times my life had open. / Once, into darkness and rain.” (Hirshfield, 1-2). This would be stage one of awakening. The third line is to represent the middle ground, a stage of reflection. “Once, into what the body carries all times within it and starts / to remember each time it enters the act of love” (Hirshfield). The final stage would be the reach to enlightenment, “Once, to the fire that
It does imagery and personify the nature itself, “a maple has stepped from her leaves / like a woman in love with winter, dropping the colored silks” (Hirshfield, 8-9). Hirshfield also attends to have no distinct syntax, “Hirshfield writes in contemporary free verse,” (Poetry for