Poetry Blog #3

3. Think about hamartia: find one poem that displays a tragic flaw in human nature (either human nature in general or in one human, as expressed in the poem). Write about whether or not the poem’s message is enhanced for you, as a reader, as you contemplate hamartia as it relates to the text.

Okay, I feel like I’m cheating, but I’m going to pick on “In the Secular Night” once again. I guess this poem is just so intriguing for me personally. So what is harmartia as presented in the poem? Well, I think it’s the speaker’s state of loneliness. However, this not only applies to the speaker, but it also applies to human nature in general. Perhaps it’s because humans are selfish by nature, but it seems that people are never satisfied with what they have, so they feel loneliness despite everything they have. Well, whatever the reason may be for the loneliness everyone feels, if people don’t overcome this feeling of desolation and seclusion, it will eventually lead them to their downfall. Just like the way the speaker says in the poem that she will go crazy at one point, everyone will go crazy if he or she does not find a way to escape loneliness. In fact, the primary reason for suicides is loneliness; people are unable to overcome their depression, so they look to the ultimate way of escape—death. Anyways, as I think about harmartia and how we are all embedded with a critical weakness, the message of the poem is further enhanced. Since I know that loneliness is inevitable for people, I am more open to Atwood’s suggestion of looking to something spiritual for fulfillment. Well, since I am already intact with the “spiritual” (or at least I think I am), I feel like I have already quenched my thirst. Well, this does not mean that I am happy all the time; in fact, I still feel lonely quite often. There are so many times when I feel like no one really understands me… perhaps it’s because I haven’t found my spouse yet! :P

Haha..

Probably not though. Hm. This feeling will always stay with me. And it is up to me to resolve my internal conflicts. And however they may come across, I will have to look beyond what I can see with my physical eyes to find satisfaction. Loneliness will always stay with me… but I will rise victorious as I leave my pride and my own thoughts, and hand over myself to something spiritual—in my case, God.