Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Marie Howe’s "Wanting a Child" juxtaposes themes of desire, love, suffering, and endurance, capturing the complexities of human longing amid the presence of illness and uncertainty. The poem begins with a grand aspiration: "I want to write about God and suffering and how the trees endure what we don’t want—the long dead months before the appalling blossoms." This opening situates the speaker in a space of contemplation, drawing a parallel between the suffering of nature and human endurance. The phrase "appalling blossoms" suggests that even renewal can be overwhelming, that the cycles of loss and rebirth contain their own form of violence.

Yet, despite this stated intention to write about large, metaphysical themes, the speaker?s thoughts immediately turn to the intimate, physical world of James, a man whose presence embodies comfort and longing. The scene she describes is tactile and repetitive—"I leaned down and pressed my cheek against his belly, and drew the side of my face up over his chest, his shoulder and throat and chin and cheek." The act is ritualistic, emphasizing both affection and a search for reassurance. The repetition—"over and over again"—suggests not just physical intimacy but a deeper attempt to hold onto something ephemeral. It conveys a yearning that cannot be entirely fulfilled, as if the speaker is trying to absorb James into her being, to make permanence out of touch.

This tender moment is abruptly contrasted with the reality of illness: "Tonight Jane sleeps between white hospital sheets. She’s already lost her hair from treatment. Two more years of it: six months on, six months off." The stark shift in subject matter underscores the precariousness of life. Jane, likely a friend or loved one, becomes a symbol of endurance, her existence stripped down to a regimented cycle of treatment. The speaker’s response is complex—"I almost envy the simplicity of her life, deprived of a certain future." This startling admission suggests that certainty itself can be a burden, that in Jane’s condition, there is at least a clarity that the speaker lacks. Wanting a child, as the title suggests, is an act of hope, yet also an act of vulnerability—there is no guarantee of what the future will hold.

The setting of the poem further reinforces its themes. The "snowy evening in a dark snowy winter" mirrors the "long dead months" mentioned earlier. The "daffodils in the glass vase on the mantel over the fireplace that doesn’t work" serve as an image of fragile beauty—life persisting in an environment of dysfunction. The broken fireplace suggests a space that should provide warmth but does not, reinforcing the poem’s sense of absence and longing.

The final lines capture the world’s steady, indifferent rhythm: "The radiator’s squeak and whine. Plows soon, their deep and decent rumbling. Then more night, more snow and wind, and in the morning, somebody shoveling." These sounds and actions are cyclical, almost mechanical, suggesting the passage of time, the inevitability of labor, the way life moves forward even in the face of suffering and uncertainty.

"Wanting a Child" does not resolve its central tensions but instead inhabits them fully. It is a poem about contrasts—the intimate and the distant, desire and loss, endurance and fragility. Howe suggests that the act of wanting, whether for love, certainty, or a child, is an essential but painful aspect of being human. The speaker moves between tenderness and existential questioning, between love and the shadow of mortality, and in doing so, she captures the full weight of longing.

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