When I look at the sky now, I look at it for you.
As if with enough attention, I could take it in for you.
With all the leaves gone almost from
the trees, I did not walk briskly through the field.
Late today with my dog Wool, I lay down in the upper field,
he panting and aged, me looking at the blue. Leaning
on him, I wondered how finite these lustered days seem
to you, A stand of hemlock across the lake catches
my eye. It will take a long time to know how it is
for you. Like a dog's lifetime -- long -- multiplied by sevens.
http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/026.html
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The poem, Before She Died by Karen Chase, is a poem written by the author to someone she had dearly loved but has now passed away. To take a more technical look at this poem, I will like to look at each line of the poem to see what the author meant in this poem. The first line of the poem is “When I look at the sky now, I look at it for you.” The author is possibly reminded of the one that died. She is reminded of the person whenever she looks at the sky. The second line is “As if with enough attention, I could take it in for you.” Here, the author means that if she thinks about the person with enough attention, she is able to find the person. The next line is “With all the leaves gone almost from the trees,” which shows that it is autumn. Just like the leaves are falling from the trees, so is her memory of the person that died. “I did not walk briskly through the field” is the next line that shows that the author is moving with a heavy heart. Although her loved one has died, she is unable to let her go in her heart. The next line is “Late today with my dog Woo, I lay down in the upper field.” In this line, the author introduces her dog. In the line “he panting and aged, me looking at the blue,” I am able to imagine a girl and a dog, an old dog, together in an open field looking up at the clear, blue sky. The author mentions that the dog is old, possibly showing that time has passed since her loved one died. “Leaning on him, I wondered how finite these lustered days seem to you” is the next line that shows that although life for the author seems endless and long, to the dead, time has no meaning. “A stand of hemlock across the lake catches my eye.” A hemlock is a poisonous plant that may have reminded the author of her loved one. In the last stanza, the author says, “It will take a long time to know how it is for you.” She compares how different it is for the dead and for those alive. “Like a dog’s lifetime-long-multiplied by seven” is the last line of this poem. The author means that never in her lifetime would she understand how her loved one is living because she is dead. There is no rhyme in this poem which can show how the author wanted to show a more informal type of speech, holding some kind of freedom.
