This is a poem by John Berryman that I am supposed to analyze and I am completely confused by. If anyone has any observations or ideas about the main idea of the poem, PLEASE help me out!
"The Traveller"
They pointed me out on the highway, and they said
'That man has a curious way of holding his head.'
They pointed me out on the beach; they said 'That man
Will never become as we are, try as he can.'
They pointed me out at the station, and the guard
Looked at me twice, thrice, thoughtfully & hard.
I took the same train that the others took,
To the same place. Were it not for that look
And those words, we were all of us the same.
I studied merely maps. I tried to name
The effects of motion on the travellers,
I watched the couple I could see, the curse
And blessings of that couple, their destination,
The deception practiced on them at the station,
Their courage. When the train stopped and they knew
The end of their journey, I descended too.
Is not Berryman discussing his life as a poet? Others critized him for what he did, and how he crafted words. But to himself, he was on the same path as they, he tried to write about people, as they led their lives, and their thoughts. Station here means a starting path of a life decision. When the end came to their path, Berryman left them also.
Remember that Berryman committed suicide (jumped off a bridge). Remember that many of Berrymans poems are disjointed, flighty, and often surrealistic, as this one is. He marched to a different drummer.
I am not certain anyone knows for certain what Berryman had in mind on this work.
Good luck. THe magic thing about Poetry intrepretation is that it is your intrepretation. Sometimes, as in Berryman's works, different folks see different meanings.
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