Cutting Loose
by William Stafford
Sometimes from sorrow, for no reason,
you sing. For no reason, you accept
the way of being lost, cutting loose
from all else and electing a world
where you go where you want to.Arbitrary, a sound comes, a reminder
that a steady center is holding
all else. If you listen, that sound
will tell where it is, and you
can slide your way past trouble.Certain twisted monsters
always bar the path – but that’s when
you get going best, glad to be lost,
learning how real it is
here on the earth, again and again.
Summary of Cutting Loose
- Popularity of “Cutting Loose”: Published back in 1983, this beautiful and concise poem by William Stafford presents the unique theme of seeking autonomy. The poem presents the idea of autonomy that a soul seeks without finding a reason. This autonomy ranges from happiness to satisfaction and even losing connection with the environment. The beauty of the poem lies in its autonomous status, cutting itself loose from the
- “Cutting Loose” As a Representative of Human Autonomy and Mundane Reality: The poet presents a speaker who says that sometimes it becomes imperative to do things that are contradictory to the situation and environment in which a person lives. For example, he says sometimes it seems good to sing during sorrow, and that too without having any reason. The same goes for losing oneself in the maze when the world goes the opposite way. This, however, he calls the arbitrariness of one’s soul that is also a center that does not let you put yourself into trouble. It guides you to pass it. However, it also makes a person bold enough to avoid monsters that bar the way to the best, and this is the reality on this earth. The speaker states that a person must pay attention to his conscience and the inner voice of autonomy to get the best and avoid the worst.
- Major Themes in “Cutting Loose”: Human autonomy, mundane reality, and winning success are three major thematic strands of this poem. Although the poem has not directly stated how autonomous people could be, he means that when a person has the capability to become happy or sing during sorrows with no reason and cut himself/herself from others to create his own world, it means he is an autonomous person who has the focus of attention that could bring him away from the existing mundane reality. Therefore, no mundane bars could stop him from achieving his goal of being the best in the world despite the mundane reality starkly staring into his eyes. This theme is associated with success which means achieving the best despite these worst situations of having monsters baring the people going forward.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in Cutting Loose
William Stafford’s use of literary devices shows his dexterity in poetic writing. Some of the major literary devices are as follows.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of /e/ in “from all else and electing a world” and the sound of /o/ in “Sometimes from sorrow, for no reason.”
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession such as the sound of /s/ in “steady center” and /g/ in “get going.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /t/ in “that a steady center is holding” and the sound of /s/ in “Certain twisted monsters.”
- Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;
you get going best, glad to be lost,
learning how real it is
here on the earth, again and again.
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. William Stafford has used imagery in this poem such as “the way of being lost, cutting loose”, “can slide your way past trouble” and “Certain twisted monsters.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects that are different in nature. The poem shows the use of metaphors, such as of monsters representing people raising obstacles to bar others from getting something in life.
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols such as the center and monsters representing different facets of mundane reality.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Cutting Loose
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction and Tone: Diction means the type of language, and tone means the voice of the text. The poem shows poetic and formal diction, but the tone is exciting as well as reasonable.
- Free Verse: It means to use verses without having any rhyme scheme or metrical pattern. This poem shows the use of free verse.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are three stanzas in this poem, with each comprising five verses.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are useful to quote when teaching people about obstacles in their ways to success.
Certain twisted monsters
always bar the path – but that’s when
you get going best, glad to be lost,
learning how real it is
here on the earth, again and again.
