Blessing the Boats

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2000

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Anaphora

“blessing the boats” is written in free-verse, without a formal pattern of rhyme or meter. The poem is held together by the repetition of the word “may” (Lines 1, 6, 9 and 12). Repetition is a typical device in poetry but also in sermons and orations. The repetition helps to create a sense of rhythm, and writing that uses repetition is easier to memorize, which was important for religious worship before the advent of written scripture. Clifton’s use repetition of the phrase “may you” echoes a religious blessing for the smooth and harmonious journey of the reader through challenges similar to what she herself is facing. The repetition of “may you” also mimics the activity of waves, which rise and fall in a pattern of continual repetition. It is an incantation that creates a sermon-like quality akin to a chant or mantra that soothes the reader, putting them in a peaceful state.

Personification

The features of the ocean may seem daunting. Wind and waves could overwhelm a person on a boat with their power, however the speaker in “blessing the boats” personifies these powerful natural elements with more friendly, benevolent characteristics. She says that

may you kiss

the wind then turn from it

certain that it will

love your back (Lines 6-9)

The waves are “waving forever” (Line 11). She suggests that these are not blind forces without feeling but have the characteristics of human beings and seem to wish the traveler on the ocean well. This particular kind of personification can go a long way to making the “you” (Line 4) traveling on the journey of the poem feel less afraid. More than reducing fear it can also make the “you” feel that they are being cared for, surrounded by large forces that are trying to help them cross to the other side of the water. It creates the same dichotomy a child might feel if they are being helped by the much wiser, larger, and older support of a benevolent, caring adult. This is akin to the way that Christian theology posits a heavenly “father” figure. In this way the water, wind, tide and all natural elements could be considered metaphors for God or God’s creation.

Point of View

The poem is addressed to an ambiguous “you” (Line 4). The identity of this “you” remains ambiguous and open to interpretation. This may be because it is a poem of comfort meant to apply to any and all people who read it. Although Clifton notes that the poem was written at “St. Mary’s [Hospital]” nothing about the poem specifies that it is directed towards people in medical distress in particular. The use of a “royal” POV allows the poem to apply to anyone going through transitions “through this to that” (Line 13). At the same time the poem does not use the word “I” either. Just as Clifton addresses the “you” she also uses the term “our,” (Line 3) as in “the tide/ that is entering even now/ the lip of our understanding” (Lines 1-3). In this way she places herself as part of the community of “you’s.” The speaker herself is not necessarily the one giving the blessing, as though she is above the readers. Instead she includes herself as a passenger on the boat. It seems she may be the one receiving the blessing and passing it on.