Wednesday, April 1, 2009
"She Had Some Horses" reflection
I thought this poem was very interesting and I took it to hold heavy internal emotions. It seems to me that Harjo's speaker uses these horses as a guard. She explains that "She had some horses who laughed too much" and "She had some horses who said they weren't afraid", maybe confessing some inner conflict or relationship. I view these horses as the speaker's way of admitting her inner feelings, which could simply reflect who she is. Each horse could reveal something about her, maybe something she dreams or something she is scared to admit. Even more so, the horses could be ways she entertained herself or represent part of her imagination. The conflict in the poem could be between the horses of the speaker's reality and the horses of her imagination. When she talks about how some of them lie and some of them tell the truth she could mean that while she knows the truth sometimes she cannot admit, sort of applying these horses to her own life. At the end of the poem the speaker says "She had some horses she loved" and "She had some horses she hated";I take this to mean that the speaker has parts of her she hates and parts of her she loves and she gets to choose what other people see but the horses or spirits of herself are still there whether they are shared with others or not.
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This is an interesting interpretation. The line
ReplyDelete" The conflict in the poem could be between the horses of the speaker's reality and the horses of her imagination" really struck a chord with me. I think that every person has real-life problems and problems that they create in their minds that may not necessarily be real. I also agree that each horse could reveal something about her. I got that feeling, too, especially that she was scared to admit some of them, like the line in the end of poem when she talks about the horses raping her.
The last couple lines are very interesting, about choosing what she shares and what she hides. I didn't read them that way at first, but it makes sense. way to go!
ReplyDeleteI had the same interpretation about the end of the poem as you did! I like how you thought of the poem as inner feelings and the horses being a guard of some sort. Way to really "beat up" the poem!
ReplyDeleteThis was a really interesting reflection, you had a lot of ideas I haven't thought of but they make sense. I like how you interpreted the horses as part of both her reality and imagination; your thoughts on the last few lines gave me a new perspective on the poem.
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of how the different aspects of the horses could reveal something about herself in general. I think most everybody would interpret it to be other people, but I like thinking that the author put some REAL truth into the poem.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great take on where the contradiction is in Harjo's poem. I never thought of the horses and Harjo as two separate entities, which is a really interesting point of view on what the horses actually are and it goes beyond the debate on gender. I like the view that the horses exist in her rather than applying them outwardly.
ReplyDeleteIt is intriguing to look at the speaker as using the horses as a guard for herself. It is a twist to how I read the poem, and I enjoyed it very much.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that you interpreted the poem to be the speaker's reflections on his/ herself was really interesting. I looked at it as describing people as a whole but it was really cool to think of it on such a personal level. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteA different interpretation than most so far, but argued well with strong evidence. I agree with the idea of the horses as guards, as well as your argument for the author's struggle with the internal and external modes of personal representation. Very good response.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that you didn't view all of her horses on the same playing field. Your idea of the horses revealing something about the author is also very intriguing and I like it a lot. Your ideas were well-articulated and you made some very solid points. Great work!
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the post you mentioned that you believed the horses to be a guard, I too agree with this. I felt that she did use these horses to help reflect who she really is. I strongly agree with the ending of your post. She "has parts of her she hates and parts of her she loves and she gets to choose what other people see" This is how I viewed the writers interpretation of the poem. Good job!
ReplyDeleteLove your interpretation of the conflict between reality and imagination. Nice angle!
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