Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Watching the Whale" by Annie Finch is a deeply evocative and immersive poem that explores the connection between the human observer and the majestic whale, using rich imagery and fluid language to convey a sense of wonder, reverence, and spiritual communion with nature.

The poem begins with the striking image of a whale's fin cutting through the ocean: "A hard gray wave, her fin, walks out on the water that thickens to open and then parts open, around her." The fin is likened to a "hard gray wave," an image that immediately emphasizes the whale's immense presence and the physical impact it has on its surroundings. The water "thickens" around the whale, suggesting a palpable tension and excitement as the ocean itself seems to react to the whale's movement.

Finch continues to describe the whale’s movement with a sense of measured grace: "Measured by her delved water, I follow her fill into and out of green light in the depth she has spun." The phrase "delved water" connotes the whale's deliberate and powerful navigation through the depths, creating a pathway that the speaker metaphorically follows. The imagery of moving "into and out of green light" conveys a mystical quality, as if the whale is traversing between different realms or states of being.

The journey alongside the whale reaches a spiritual dimension as the speaker notes, "through the twenty-six fathoms of her silent orison." Here, the whale's dive is described as a "silent orison," or a wordless prayer, elevating the act of swimming to a ritualistic or contemplative practice. This line invites the reader to consider the whale's movements as deeply intentional and spiritually significant.

The sensation of joining the whale in its deep dive is vividly captured with "then sink with her till she rises, lulled with the krill." This moment of synchrony between the speaker and the whale highlights a profound connection, with the speaker almost becoming one with the whale as they share the experience of diving and rising, driven by the natural cycle of feeding on krill.

The physical impact of the encounter is described in the line "Beads of salt spray stop me, like metal crying." The spray of the ocean, caused by the whale's movement, hits the speaker with such force that it is compared to "metal crying," an image that evokes both the harshness and the beauty of this elemental interaction.

As the poem progresses, Finch delves deeper into the symbolic and transformative journey: "In a cormorant's barnacle path, I trail her, spun down through my life in the making of her difference." The speaker follows the whale not just physically but also metaphorically, tracing a path that is both ecological ("a cormorant's barnacle path") and existential ("spun down through my life"). The phrase "the making of her difference" reflects on the unique impact the whale has on the speaker’s perception of life and self.

Finch concludes with a powerful image of union and transformation: "fixing my mouth, with the offerings of silence, on her dark whale-road where all green partings run, where ocean's hidden bodies twist fathoms around her, making her green-fed hunger grow fertile as water." The "dark whale-road" is an evocative metaphor for the path the whale carves through the ocean, a path the speaker follows with a silent awe. The ocean's "hidden bodies" and the "green-fed hunger" of the whale suggest a world rich with life and mystery, continuously nourished by the natural processes of the marine ecosystem.

Overall, "Watching the Whale" captures the awe-inspiring beauty of the natural world and the deep, almost mystical connection one can feel with another creature. Through her poetic craft, Annie Finch not only depicts a vivid encounter with a whale but also invites reflection on the larger themes of kinship, spirituality, and ecological interconnectedness.

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