Starry Night by Anne Sexton
Hannah Cressy
English VO1A
Dickson-Lew
April 9th,2013
A Starry Night by Anne Sexton Anne Sexton, born on November 9, 1928 in Massachusetts, was an American poet known for her highly personal and confessional verse. She won the Pulitzer prize in 1967. Themes of her poetry include her suicidal tendencies, long battle against depression, and intimate details from her private life. Anne spent most of her childhood in Boston. On August 16th,1948 she married Alfred Sexton and they remained together until 1973. She had two children. Sexton suffered from severe mental illness for much of her life. After suffering from manic episodes on two separate occasions she met Dr. Martin Orne, who encouraged her to take up poetry. Within twelve years of writing her first sonnet, she was one of the most honored poets in America. On October 4th,1974, Anne Sexton had lunch with good friend Maxine Kumin to revise galleys for Sexton’s manuscript of “The Awful Rowing Toward God”, scheduled for publication in March 1975. On returning home, she put on her mother’s fur coat, removed all of her rings, poured herself a glass of vodka, locked herself in her garage, and started the engine to her car, committing suicide my carbon monoxide poisoning. Anne Sexton portrays a very negative tone in this poem. Right away, a feeling of sadness is expressed by the author. When she says “the town does not exist”, that means that she feels extremely and utterly alone in her life. She could be surrounded by a crowd of people, but she still feels all alone. When the night is talked about, her demeanor changes. She seems to become excited and happy. The poem almost gives off the feeling that the author fantasizes about dying and has already thought about the circumstances and details of their death. The diction in this poem is very interesting. Anne Sexton uses a lot of adjectives to describe the night and the objects that have to do with it. She uses the word “silent” to
English VO1A
Dickson-Lew
April 9th,2013
A Starry Night by Anne Sexton Anne Sexton, born on November 9, 1928 in Massachusetts, was an American poet known for her highly personal and confessional verse. She won the Pulitzer prize in 1967. Themes of her poetry include her suicidal tendencies, long battle against depression, and intimate details from her private life. Anne spent most of her childhood in Boston. On August 16th,1948 she married Alfred Sexton and they remained together until 1973. She had two children. Sexton suffered from severe mental illness for much of her life. After suffering from manic episodes on two separate occasions she met Dr. Martin Orne, who encouraged her to take up poetry. Within twelve years of writing her first sonnet, she was one of the most honored poets in America. On October 4th,1974, Anne Sexton had lunch with good friend Maxine Kumin to revise galleys for Sexton’s manuscript of “The Awful Rowing Toward God”, scheduled for publication in March 1975. On returning home, she put on her mother’s fur coat, removed all of her rings, poured herself a glass of vodka, locked herself in her garage, and started the engine to her car, committing suicide my carbon monoxide poisoning. Anne Sexton portrays a very negative tone in this poem. Right away, a feeling of sadness is expressed by the author. When she says “the town does not exist”, that means that she feels extremely and utterly alone in her life. She could be surrounded by a crowd of people, but she still feels all alone. When the night is talked about, her demeanor changes. She seems to become excited and happy. The poem almost gives off the feeling that the author fantasizes about dying and has already thought about the circumstances and details of their death. The diction in this poem is very interesting. Anne Sexton uses a lot of adjectives to describe the night and the objects that have to do with it. She uses the word “silent” to