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On Anne Sexton's "Her Kind"
"I have gone out, a possessed witch…" (34 line 1). Anne Sexton creates
an eerie opening to her poem entitled "Her Kind" with this reference to leaving
home as a witch. She takes the persona of a woman stalking about in the night, lurking
around the houses in her neighborhood. She follows by describing this woman as lonely, and
not like any ordinary woman. The final line of the stanza, by stating that she has
"been her kind" (line 7), implies that she is speaking more figuratively that
factually of the type of woman that does this.
The second stanza of the poem depicts a woman living in the woods, in caves or
shelters, making meals for imaginary creatures and friends that she finds. It is as though
she has brought all her possessions here for her place to live. The references to silks
and other "innumerable goods" (line 10) also give the impression that this woman
has been on both sides. She has been wealthy, and worn expensive clothing, but is now
destitute, and thought of as crazy, or deranged.
The final stanza is perhaps the most powerful of the entire poem. It gives the reader
the image that the woman is in the back of a cart, waving at the people that pass. She
refers to the roads at which "the flames bite my thigh"(line 18). This seems to
be in reference to the witch trials, when supposed witches were tied into the backs of
wagons, and burned alive. The final lines refer to this same woman not being afraid to
die. Perhaps this is because she knows who she is… she is not afraid to face her
fate.
By continually stating that she has been this person, the author takes an historic event
and allows the reader to relate directly to these experiences. Everyone, at one point in
their lives, feels like the outcast. Everyone feels the eyes of others burning into their
souls. In high school, young men and women are continually faced with the pressure of
living up to the expectations of others. As a mother, I frequently feel the same type of
pressure to live up to the parenting expectations of other adults who are all too swift to
judge the fact that my daughter is tired and cranky, as a direct result of poor parenting.
Why else would a three-year old girl be crying in the middle of the supermarket? Her
parents must be abusing her. Then, how could I possibly feel comfortable scolding her in
public? If I am willing to reprimand her at the store, how must I treat her at home?
This feeling of being under scrutiny is common. Many times, it is even as a result of a
fictional delusion that we create in our minds because we are too afraid of what others
thinks. The poet seems to take these issues, and weave them together so that each reader
can take from it what will apply to them. When I read it, I see a misunderstood woman who
is trying her best to be true to herself. I am sure that some people could realistically
see it for its historic content. Others could look at the stanza referring to the worms
and elves, and see a woman who has created a fictional world to cope with the hardships of
her life. These seem to be honest interpretations of the same poem, yet what I keep coming
to is the line in the last stanza that states, "a woman like that is not ashamed to
die" (line 20). I take this to be in reference to a state of mind that can be
achieved. Almost a caution, or word of advice to the reader to be happy with who you are
so that if trials arise, you are capable of handling them with dignity.
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