This is one of my favorite poems as it has allowed me to relate in so numerous ways when it comes to life. All through my life there have been many ups and downs, and many people that have come and gone; but no matter what the series of events that I have come across have made me who I am today. There have been many people that have played important roles in my life but as William Stafford entails people will come and go; and people will play all kinds of roles in your life.
When people make inquiries from me whether I would take anything in my life back if i had a chance, I answer with no since the people I have been involved with and the blunders I have made shaped who I am today.
The poem is written in the future tense; from the first person perception of “I”. This is style isvery different from other poets.
Stafford reaches out to audiences in the first line with the words “ask me”. Stafford writes of a future occasion when questions will be asked of him. It begins with a dialogue between the orator and another person. We have no reason to believe that the orator is not Stafford himself. The other person could be the audience, but sounds more like a close companion or at least somebody who knows him well.
The poem begins: “Some time when the river is ice ask me mistakes I have made.
Ask me what I have done in my life.”(Stafford) In these two sentences, he brings in two things: first, what the poem is regarding (his life), and second the main metaphor (the river iced over).
For the rest of the first stanza he talks of the consequence other people have had whether good or bad. Or somewhat he is asking the listener to ask him; which is odd since the second verse begins: “I will pay attention to what you say” (Stafford). The second stanza reddens out the metaphor of the ice-covered river. That while it looks immobile; what’s beneath is a different story: “We know the current is there, concealed; and there are comings and goings from miles away”
The river in the rhyme, for Stafford, as it has been for many poets although the ages, is an image and metaphor for the orator’s life. Fascinatingly in an interview, when he is talking about himself he make use of the same image:“I keep following this kind of concealed river of my life, you know, whatever the subject or impulse which comes, I follow it along gullibly (Stafford).
And I don’t have any sagacity of its coming to a sort of upsurge, or of its petering out either.” The poem is saying that there is a difference to be made, between how immobile and peaceful the ice-covered river may look on the facade; this could be how human beings remembers their life, a sequence of actions and events frozen in recall. And what is beneath, that actions and blunders cannot be seen in isolation, but are managed and influenced by events and people. In the same way the path of a river is influenced by things that govern its course.
Stafford gives us the eventual life lesson concealed within life’s blunders. We all ask ourselves and others as well if our choices are slip-ups. But in reality no choice in life is a slip-up, but an example in which we learn from. You will always have people within your life that are there to upset you or help you, but in the end what is done is your option. We as humans are not ideal and shouldn’t hide behind “the ice” for the “mistakes” we have made, for in our life is already planned out for us it’s our choice on what road to take. Stafford gives us encouragement within his rhyme; permitting us to see ourselves for who we are and not what we do.
Work cited
Stafford, William. “Ask Me.” Gioia, X. J. Kennedy and Dana. Literature. New York: Pearson, 2010. 643. Book
Poetry Analysis of Ask Me
In the poem “Ask Me,” the poet, William Stafford, gives the reader a strong sense of imagery, it describes the river so vividly, so creatively. This poem is a very good poem, and is actually very mysterious and a little bit almost questionable about the theme of the poem. Basically what I get from the poem is, the speaker is not ashamed of who he or she is and you can ask them any questions about their past and they will gladly answer. It’s almost as if it is kind of testing the speaker, like will or she actually answer the question? And the answer is most definitely yes.
As for the meaning, I am not too sure. I guess some poetry cannot always be explained so well but that’s okay because I still enjoy reading it and trying to figure out what it is about. But I can pretty much understand the gist of the poem. It is just the last line that gets me, “What the river says, that is what I say.” It’s haunting almost chilling to me to read that. Shivers seriously run down my spine when I read that. So, from the poem, I basically get the vibe it is saying, the speaker has had a long life full of, love, hurt, pin, heartbreak etc, but ask him anything about his past or anything and he isn’t ashamed of it. He will proudly answer to anything and take responsibility for what he has caused and what he’s been through.
I personally have tried analyzing this poem for about a week now, and it has been so difficult for me to find the real meaning of this poem. And very difficult to try and understand the tone and mood. So, although I wasn’t able to find a whole bunch about the poem, I found it very interesting and enjoyed even looking up this poem further and reading about the author and what other people took from this poem. So overall, this poem is a very well written poem and the ideas are endless of what it could mean.
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