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From this line, readers learn that the speaker's mother is "departed" (67), yet she sits in her daughter's "Eames chair" (68). Although this could be a memory or the speaker's imagination, she says that her mother was actually present. This is deceiving, since readers have learned right away that her mother is "departed". In addition, the speaker is "reproached" (68), for "losing her [mother's] keys" (69). Though the speaker does not say this, this is likely an imagined situation, or she is remembering a past occurrence. The scenario described is part of the stanza in which the speaker describes the deception of her house on Cape Ann, and says that she cannot escape her childhood.
-Tara Bigdeli
Comments (1)
Tonya Howe said
at 2:22 pm on Mar 29, 2010
Nice work! This is a well-written annotation, and you've clearly laid out your sense of the speaker's goals at this point. I wonder what the specific brand objects you've noted in the poem suggest about these readings? Not sure if there's anything more than concreteness and specificity, to present a three-dimensional image to the reader, but maybe...
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