Wormwood: The Penitents
(by Ellen Bryant Voigt) (written in 1994) I always thought she ought to have been an angel. There’s one I saw a picture of, smooth and white, the wings like bolts of silk, breasts like a girl’s-- like hers—eyebrows, all of it. Ten years I put away a little every year, but her family was shamed by the bare grave, and I wasn’t to blame for everything, so now she has a cross. Crude, rigid, nothing human in it, flat dead tree on the hill, it’s what you see for miles, it’s all I see. Symbol of hope, the priest said, clearing his throat, and the rain came down and washed the plastic flowers. I guess he thinks that dusk is just like dawn. I guess he had forgot about the nails. |
→ In an alternative version of her poem, Bryant Voigt makes some key changes. Ask your students to identify the differences, and how these differences alter the poem's meaning:
Wormwood: The Penitants
(by Ellen Bryant Voigt)
I always thought she ought to have an angel. (changed from 'ought to have been an angel')
There’s one I saw a picture of, smooth and white,
the wings like bolts of silk, breasts like a girl’s--
like hers—eyebrows, all of it. For years (changed from 'Ten years')
I put away a little every year,
but her family was shamed by the bare grave,
and hadn't they blamed me for everything, (changed from 'I wasn't to blame for everything')
so now she has a cross. Crude, rigid, nothing
human in it, flat dead tree on the hill,
it’s what you see for miles, it’s all I see.
Symbol of hope, the priest said, clearing his throat,
and the rain came down and washed the formal flowers. (changed from 'plastic')
I guess he thinks that dusk is just like dawn.
I guess he had forgot about the nails.
(from Art and Artists: Poems edited by Emily Fragos)
Wormwood: The Penitants
(by Ellen Bryant Voigt)
I always thought she ought to have an angel. (changed from 'ought to have been an angel')
There’s one I saw a picture of, smooth and white,
the wings like bolts of silk, breasts like a girl’s--
like hers—eyebrows, all of it. For years (changed from 'Ten years')
I put away a little every year,
but her family was shamed by the bare grave,
and hadn't they blamed me for everything, (changed from 'I wasn't to blame for everything')
so now she has a cross. Crude, rigid, nothing
human in it, flat dead tree on the hill,
it’s what you see for miles, it’s all I see.
Symbol of hope, the priest said, clearing his throat,
and the rain came down and washed the formal flowers. (changed from 'plastic')
I guess he thinks that dusk is just like dawn.
I guess he had forgot about the nails.
(from Art and Artists: Poems edited by Emily Fragos)