Assembled Members of a Set

Some notations on "Final Notations" from An Atlas of the Difficult World by Adrienne Rich

What is its meaning?

Try memorizing the first stanza. Be mindful of what gets laid down quickly and where the memory catches.

It's itself.
It is Poetry.
It is the Other of Poetry.
It's Life.

And that second stanza. With its capital You. We are changing gears. Note each you need not reference the same entity. It is quite possible what we have here is the assembled members of a set. Each "you" is a deictic picking out individuals or groups. You, you, you and you.

The first stanza with its "It". The second stanza with its play of "us" and "you". The third? - a fragile interplay between it and you that rests on one possessive pronoun "your".

That will become your will? Hints of Schopenhauer The World as Will and Representation. From Wikipedia:

Schopenhauer's philosophy holds that all nature, including man, is the expression of an insatiable will to life. It is through the will that mankind finds all their suffering. Desire for more is what causes this suffering.

Its meaning? - About being in the world. Want more?

And so for day 1041
19.10.2009