The Starry Night
By Anne Sexton
That does not keep me from having a terrible need of—shall I say the word—religion. Then I go out at night to paint the stars.
Vincent Van Gogh in a letter to his brother
The town does not exist
except where one black-haired tree slips
up like a drowned woman into the hot sky.
The town is silent. The night boils with eleven stars.
Oh starry starry night! This is how
I want to die.It moves. They are all alive.
Even the moon bulges in its orange irons
to push children, like a god, from its eye.
The old unseen serpent swallows up the stars.
Oh starry starry night! This is how
I want to die:into that rushing beast of the night,
sucked up by that great dragon, to split
from my life with no flag,
no belly,
no cry.
Summary of The Starry Night
- Popularity of “The Starry Night”: “The Starry Night” by Anne Sexton, an American poet, is a beautiful piece of poetry. The poem appeared first in 1962 in her collection, All My Pretty Ones. It talks about the starry night that makes the poet happy. The popularity of the poem, however, rests on the description that makes the poet make the stars alive like children of a dragon or a giant.
- “The Starry Night” As a Representative of Natural Beauty: After a short epigraph from Van Gogh’s letter about the beauty of a starry night, Anne Sexton shows the same art through her descriptive skills. She goes on to say after citing his epigraph that it seems as if the town or the city does not exist and that only a treetop shows up like a drowned woman who comes up once in a while. Otherwise, the silence rules the roost on it. However, when the night spreads its darkness, the stars appear and the poet becomes so much immersed in it that she wants to die in such a beautiful environment. Soon the poet feels that they are alive around the moon like the children of god that takes care of them. The darkness, however, seems like a serpent that takes them and this is how the poet wants to die if the beauty of such a starry night dies. The poet says that she wants to be gulped by such a dragon with some conditions that it should have no belly and that he would not cry.
- Major Themes in “The Starry Night”: Beauty of night, the beauty of stars, and the poet’s desire to die in such a condition are three major themes of this poem. The poet has beautifully highlighted the beauty of a starry night and the stars. She is of the view that they are beautiful like the children of a god but the darkness soon overtakes them all. This seems to the poet the moment of death. In fact, she wants to die in case there is no beauty or beauty disappears. She wants that in such a dreadful condition, she would not be able to live. Rather, she would die immediately.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “The Starry Night”
Literary devices are literary tools essential for poetic or prose writing to make the text beautiful and worth reading. The analysis of these devices in the poem as given below shows this fact.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of /o/ in “The town does not exist”, /a/ in “It moves. They are all alive” and the sound of /e/ in “Except where one black-haired tree slips.”
- Alliteration: It is the use of successive consonant sounds in the initials of the successive words such as /s/ in “starry starry” and /s/ in “serpent swallows.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /w/ and /n/ in “up like a drowned woman into the hot sky”, /s/ and /r/ in “Oh starry starry night! This is how / I want to die,” and the sound of /g/ and /n/ in “Even the moon bulges into its orange irons.”
- 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;
The old unseen serpent swallows up the stars.
Oh starry starry night! This is how
I want to die:
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. The poem shows the use of imagery such as “The town does not exist”, “Tow town is silent. The night boils with eleven stars” and “from my life with no flag.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between the objects that are different. The poem shows the use of metaphors of a drowned woman that is likened to a tree and town to a person who is now silent.
- Personification: The poet has shown the use of personifications of the town, moon, stars, and darkness, showing as if they have life and emotions of their own.
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from literal meanings. The poem shows the use of symbols of the night such as stars, moon, and darkness to show ugliness and beauty.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “The Starry Night”
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction and Tone: The poem shows classical and rhythmic diction full of figurative language. Its tone, however, is highly devotional.
- Free Verse: The poem does not follow any metrical pattern or rhyme scheme. Therefore, it is a free verse poem.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are three stanzas with a different number of verses.
Quotes to be Used
These lines from “The Starry Night” are relevant to quote when delivering a lecture on the blessings of the Lord.
Even the moon bulges in its orange irons
to push children, like a god, from its eye.
The old unseen serpent swallows up the stars.