Poem out of Childhood by Muriel Rukeyser
"Poem out of Childhood" by Muriel Rukeyser is a reflective work that delves into the intersection of youth, memory, and the harsh realities of the world. The poem begins with the powerful assertion "Breathe-in experience, breathe-out poetry," emphasizing the transformative nature of personal and collective experiences. Rukeyser paints vivid images of young individuals grappling with loss and societal issues, such as the impact of war and historical trauma on their lives. The poem explores the innocence of childhood against a backdrop of violence and suffering, illustrated through references to significant historical events, including the assassination that sparked World War I.
As the narrative unfolds, Rukeyser conveys a sense of rebellion and a desire for understanding, urging the youth to question the remnants of their past and the structures around them. The imagery of abandoned factories symbolizes the disillusionment with previous societal norms, while the young characters evolve from throwing stones to seeking meaning and truth. Ultimately, Rukeyser captures a journey of reconciliation between the innocence of youth and the realities of a troubled world, inviting readers to contemplate the weight of history and the potential for transformation. This poem resonates with themes of resilience and the quest for identity amidst chaos, making it a significant reflection on the complexity of growing up in a challenging environment.
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Poem out of Childhood by Muriel Rukeyser
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1935 (collected in Theory of Flight, 1935)
Type of work: Poem
The Work
Part 1 of “Poem out of Childhood” opens with Rukeyser’s famous declaration “Breathe-in experience, breathe-out poetry” and continues with images of high-school students being affected by the outside world: a girl whose father and brother have just died, for example, and the image of the “mouldered face” of a “syphilitic woman” that intrudes upon a school orchestra’s playing. The poet is hit with image after image that, like bandages, wrap her head: “when I put my hand up I hardly feel the wounds.”
The poet continues, protesting against those “who manipulated and misused our youth,/ smearing those centuries upon our hands,” by focusing the students’ attention on the past and ignoring present-day horrors. Part 1 ends with the proclamation, “Rebellion pioneered among our lives,/ viewing from far-off many-branching deltas,/ innumerable seas.”
During part 2 of “Poem out of Childhood,” Rukeyser is still thinking about world events: “Prinzip’s year bore us : see us turning at breast/ quietly while the air throbs over Sarajevo/ after the mechanic laugh of that bullet.” The reference is to Gavrilo Princip, the Serbian student whose assassination of the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand at Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, triggered World War I. The aftermath of the assassination is the throbbing pain accompanying the birth of Rukeyser’s modern world, and the children born into that world are shown as innocent and ineffective. The early days of the modern world are viewed through a kaleidoscope of Rukeyser’s memories, including an abandoned factory at which “the kids throw stones.” The empty factory seems to represent the old social structures, abandoned during the war.
Part 3 begins with the poet’s decision to
Organize the full results of that rich past
As critic Louise Kertesz has explained, this is how Rukeyser will deal with her memories of suffering and conflict, by creating “an organizing vision which is intensely personal and hard-won.” The youth now will not throw stones at the abandoned factory but will knock at its walls, questioning its meaning and determining its place in her life. Here is Rukeyser’s reconciliation of the opposites of her innocent, sheltered youth and her memories of the awful events that took place during that youth. Part 3 of “Poem out of Childhood” ends with the positive image of young people trying on different roles and exploring their significance by “summoning fact from abandoned machines of trade,” ready “for the affirmative clap of truth.”
Bibliography
Ciardi, John. Mid-Century American Poets. New York: Twayne, 1950.
Herzog, Anne F., and Janet E. Kaufman, eds. How Shall We Tell Each Other of the Poet? The Life and Writing of Muriel Rukeyser. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999.
Kertesz, Louise. The Poetic Vision of Muriel Rukeyser. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1980.
Moss, Howard. The Poet’s Story. New York: Macmillan, 1973.