成人大片

While the speaker鈥攚hom Senior indicates is an authorial persona (On Gardens and Gardening)鈥攔ecognizes that there are racial (hence 鈥渄ark voyagers/ like me鈥�) and other differences between them that perhaps inform their writing lives, she clearly sees Rhys as a literary foremother. The poem itself is a testament to Rhys鈥檚 influence since the poetic persona draws directly from Rhys鈥檚 books, letters, and unfinished autobiography for content; and the clever wordplay and double meanings that give the poem much of its emotional depth derive from the reader鈥檚 and speaker鈥檚 shared knowledge of the details of Rhys鈥檚 life and work.

The emotional tone of Rhys鈥檚 life during the years in Cheriton Fitzpaine, Devon, when she struggled to complete Wide Sargasso Sea in what she felt was increasingly becoming a hostile physical and social environment is effectively captured in the first part of the poem. Yet the reader hears Rhys鈥檚 voice directly only at those points in the poem where quotes from her letters are provided. That is because in Part 1 Rhys鈥檚 experiences and viewpoint are filtered through the perspective of the poetic persona who employs colour symbolism and imagery that capture the turbulence and sense of loss, but also the tenacity and determination, of Rhys鈥檚 Devon years. In Part 2, the narrative focus shifts, although it is still the same poetic persona who is speaking. In Part 2, the poetic persona provides details of her own visit to Cheriton Fitzpaine years after Rhys鈥檚 death and uses the occasion to confirm the latter鈥檚 status among Caribbean writers. In the process, the poetic persona counterbalances the sadness and gloom that pervade Part 1 by affirming鈥攁gain through colour symbolism and imagery that resonate with those employed in Part 1鈥� Rhys鈥檚 final triumph, even in death, over all the writerly and personal challenges she faced. The interplay between the symbols, images, sentiments, and tones of Part 1 and Part 2 helps facilitate one author鈥檚 expression of allegiance to, quiet reflection on, and appreciation of another author鈥檚 work and craft. Hence the use of the word 鈥渕editation鈥� in the title as the poem is an actual contemplation on what it means to be a writer鈥攁nd particularly a writer from the Caribbean who lives and writes away from home.

In her interview with Hyacinth Simpson, Olive Senior recalls reading 鈥渆verything [she] could find by and about Jean Rhys鈥� as a way of developing her vocabulary for the poem (On Gardens and Gardening). The poem contains many allusions to, and sometimes quotes directly from, letters Rhys wrote to various people when she lived in the village of Cheriton Fitzpaine between 1960 and the late 1970s. For example, the poem begins with references to the dampness of the Devonshire countryside. In the opening stanzas, the poetic persona echoes Rhys鈥檚 initial impressions of the place when she speaks of the 鈥渓imitless 鈥�rain鈥� (lines 10-11) and 鈥減erpetual flooding鈥� (line 39) at Land Boat Bungalows, the aptly named group of cottages where Rhys lived in Cheriton Fitzpaine. In a letter to her daughter, Maryvonne, upon first arriving in the village Rhys wrote: 鈥淎bove all Rain. It has hardly stopped since we came! (Wyndham and Melly 195). Rhys also complained about 鈥渂ad floods鈥� caused by the River Exeter overflowing its boundaries after months of unceasing rainfall (Wyndham and Melly 196). Alongside the rain, tears, drink/ing, and sailing are among other aqueous references in the poem, and together these form a network of water imagery that the poet (both Senior and her authorial persona) uses to underscore the sense of loss, overwhelm, and helplessness that dogged Rhys in the final decades of her life. Rhys鈥檚 letters indicate that she was often felt like she was drowning in depression brought on by having very little money, her own and her third husband鈥檚 illnesses, and the copious amounts of alcohol that she consumed. She was, indeed, often in 鈥渇ear of being left/ high and dry鈥� (lines 35-36) by family, friends, and the literary world. In a similar vein, the sense of steering a boat, often through threatening waters, becomes a recurring image in the poem for the art of writing, a 鈥渃raft鈥� (connoting both skill and vessel) (lines 55, 162, 241) that Rhys struggled with. But, as the poetic persona notes, despite her struggles, Rhys was able to launch a seaworthy craft that served both her and the writers she has influenced.

Colour symbolism is the main literary device employed to create and extend meaning in the poem. Like "Meditation on Yellow", "Meditation on Red" is a colour poem because a significant portion of what it means鈥攖hat is, the ideas and emotions it conveys鈥攊s realised through associations made with the colour red. In On Gardens and Gardening, Senior indicates that she uses red to structure the poem because it is the colour 鈥渕ost associated with [Rhys].鈥� As with the water imagery, the poem mines Rhys鈥檚 fiction (particularly Wide Sargasso Sea) and letters for material through which such associations are made. Red features largely in the poem because Rhys seemed to have favoured the colour. She wore and surrounded herself with it whenever she wanted to bring some unaccustomed cheer into her life. When she first moved into No. 6 Land Boat Bungalows, Rhys told her daughter that 鈥淸the cottage] is already very comfortable鈥揵ut I will make it glitter a bit, for it can be dark in the rain. It needs Red. A lot鈥� (Wyndham and Melly 195). In line 106, the poetic persona recalls the red 鈥淐hristmas cracker dress鈥� that Rhys wrote about in a letter to her daughter in December 1961 (Wyndham and Melly 201). Rhys鈥檚 purchase of the dress (although she ended up not wearing it) apparently defied the social norms of Devon society because it led to gossip among her neighbours (Wyndham and Melly 209). The planting of poppies, the consumption of red pills, the wearing of a red wig, and the use of red and gilt d茅cor, all mentioned in Rhys鈥檚 letters between 1960 and 1963, help to further develop the poem鈥檚 colour symbolism and the use of red as Rhys鈥檚 identifying colour.

The narrow-mindedness of Devon society hinted at in the reactions to the red dress eventually becomes a more dominant theme in Rhys鈥檚 letters from 1963 on. She claimed on more than one occasion that her neighbours accused her of being a witch; and she wrote to Selma Vaz Dias to say that her neighbours distrusted her because she was a writer, an occupation deemed suspect by the illiterate villagers (Wyndham and Melly 241). Senior carefully choses words such as 鈥渟pell/ing,鈥� 鈥渃onjure,鈥� 鈥渃raft鈥� and 鈥渞ide鈥� (rather than, as the poem notes, 鈥渨rite鈥�) that allude to both Rhys鈥檚 supposed witchcraft and to her vocation as a writer. Senior鈥檚 diction in 鈥淢ediation in Red鈥� is thus, like the poem鈥檚 perspective, dual, as it draws out Rhys鈥檚 meanings as well as those of the poetic persona.

The poem also makes numerous references to Rhys鈥檚 published novels and short stories. Voyage in the Dark was the first novel that Rhys wrote (although it was her fourth published work), and Senior plays with that title in lines 1-2, 141-142, and 246. Wide Sargasso Sea is also referenced. The lines 鈥渨aiting for another explosion/ (like that/ which long ago/ came/ from the/ attic)鈥� (108-113) refer to the first Mrs. Rochester, Rhys鈥檚 heroine in Wide Sargasso Sea who sets the house on fire after years of being imprisoned in the attic by her husband. Rhys鈥檚 heroine is inspired to burn the house down after seeing a red dress hanging in the attic closet, which makes the allusions to red鈥攁nd to Rhys鈥檚 own red dress鈥攄iscussed above even more nuanced. Later on, the poem again makes reference to Wide Sargasso Sea by quoting a sentence Rhys wrote about the novel鈥檚 ending in a letter to Vaz Dias in 1958: 鈥淪he [the first Mrs. Rochester] is cold鈥揳nd fire is the only warmth she knows in England鈥� (Wyndham and Melly 157). The second part of Senior鈥檚 poem makes poignant and elegiac references to lesser known works by Rhys. Sleep it Off, Lady, alluded to in lines 186-187 of the poem, is the title of Rhys鈥檚 last published short story collection. Good Morning, Midnight (line 202), which is inscribed on Rhys鈥檚 tombstone, is the title of her fourth novel. 鈥淪mile Please,鈥� the final words of the poem, is the title of Rhys鈥檚 posthumous memoir.

Furthermore, the many allusions to Rhys鈥檚 work in the poem draw attention to other layers of intertextuality. For example, Wide Sargasso Sea is a rewriting of Charlotte Bronte鈥檚 Jane Eyre, 鈥淕ood Morning, Midnight鈥� is the title of a poem by Emily Dickinson, and The Voyage Out was a novel by Virginia Woolf. Senior鈥檚 poetic persona explicitly recalls the latter in the phrase 鈥渨hen you voyaged out鈥� (lines 141-142). Intertextuality, as Tobias Doring points out, allows multiple perspectives to exist within a work and offers a 鈥渘etwork of exchange and circulation鈥� (8) rather than a single authorial perspective. In the references to Rhys鈥檚 letters and books, Senior employs Rhys鈥檚 own cross-textual approach to facilitate a dialogue between past and current authors and texts. This intertextuality allows Senior to give validity to Rhys鈥檚 perspective while also asserting the poetic persona鈥檚 point of view. Rhys鈥檚 rewriting of Bront毛鈥檚 Jane Eyre was a clear acknowledgement of the literary influence of the English novel, even as Wide Sargasso Sea was written as a counter narrative to, as Gayatri Spivak has famously argued, assert 鈥渢he interest of the white Creole鈥� (253). In a similar manner, Senior pays tribute to Rhys鈥檚 oeuvre while also affirming her poetic persona鈥檚 (and perhaps her own) perspective as a differently-positioned, contemporary Caribbean writer.

But the poetic persona does not share Rhys鈥檚 sense of alienation, even though they are both far away from home. True, the trope of the voyage used throughout the poem underscores their positioning as diasporic writers from the Caribbean. As well, not only does the image of steering a boat reference the craft of writing, as mentioned above, but the idea of traversing the Sargasso Sea, of voyaging out, of crossing and re-crossing the Atlantic is crucial to the experiences of alienation and belonging that the poem explores. Atlantic passages are fraught due to histories of colonialism and slavery, and Rhys鈥檚 voyage to and eventual marooning in England resulted in an ongoing sense of alienation that even her intelligence and writing (鈥渃rafts鈥� both) could not overcome. But Senior鈥檚 poetic persona has found a means to belong鈥� a 鈥渂eacon/ to safe harbour/ in the islands鈥� (lines 251-253)鈥攕eemingly through her mediation on Rhys鈥檚 life and work. Although 鈥渄ivided,鈥� as Rhys was, 鈥渂y that sea鈥� (lines 234-236), Senior鈥檚 poetic persona remains confident and hopeful in her ability to speak and move between places. As Gyllian Phillips has noted, the speaker of the poem enacts a 鈥渞ich transformation,鈥� undoing 鈥渢he binaries that would appear to inform her relationship with Rhys鈥濃�攏amely the binaries of race, age, and colonial history (202). At the end of the poem, it seems that Senior鈥檚 speaker breathes new life into Rhys. Imagining that Rhys wakes up from her deathly sleep to smile in the photograph with her, Senior鈥檚 speaker jubilantly observes that the rain Rhys so despised has stopped in honour of the moment. That final image of the two writers symmetrically arranged in the frame appears to be a homecoming for both of them; and it effects a seamless transition between past and contemporary traditions of Caribbean writing.

Notes

¹ Named after the sargassum seaweed growing there, the Sargasso Sea is an area of the North Atlantic Ocean noted for its strong currents. It must be crossed in the passage between England and the Caribbean.

² The term 鈥渃reole,鈥� which gained currency in the 18th and 19th centuries, has been used to refer to anyone born or long resident in the Caribbean. It has also been used to refer to people of mixed heritage, for whom other terms such as 鈥渂rown鈥� and 鈥渕ulatto鈥� have been employed. As well, 鈥渃reole鈥� is used in Caribbean literary and cultural criticism to refer to the unique historical conditions of slavery and plantation society under which several ethnicities and nationalities (African, British, Chinese, Indian, etc.) came into contact. Several critics have also specifically identified Rhys as a creole writer. See, for example, Judith Raiskin鈥檚 Snow on the Canefields; Women鈥檚 Writing and Creole Subjectivity in which the author includes Rhys among a group of four British-connected creoles she discusses.

³ After Rhys鈥檚 final novel Wide Sargasso Sea was published in 1966, it 鈥揳nd Rhys鈥攚ere claimed by Caribbean literary critics as belonging to the Anglophone Caribbean (or West Indian) literary tradition. For example, in 1968, Wally Look Lai wrote; 鈥淸T]here can be little doubt that a serious reading will reveal Wide Sargasso Sea to be one of the genuine masterpieces of West Indian fiction鈥� (38). John Hearne argued that Wide Sargasso Sea was 鈥渢he touchstone against which to assay West Indian fiction before and after it鈥� (323-324), while Kenneth Ramchand hailed Rhys鈥檚 reemergence and the novel鈥檚 publication as 鈥渢he most spectacular turn of fortune鈥� (xi) for west Indian literature.

Works Cited

Bront毛, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Cornhill, UK: Smith, Elder, and Co., 1847. Print.

Doring, Tobias. Caribbean-English Passages: Intertextuality in a Postcolonial Tradition. New York: Routledge, 2002. Print.

Hearne, John. "The Wide Sargasso Sea: A West Indian Reflection." Cornhill Magazine 1080 (Summer 1974): 323-333. Print.

Look Lai, Wally. "The Road to Thornfield Hall: An Analysis of Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea." New Beacon Review.Ed. John La Rose. London: New Beacon Books Ltd., 1968. Print.

Lonsdale, Thorunn. "Literary Foremother: Jean Rhys's Sleep it Off, Lady and Two Jamaican Poems." Telling Stories: Postcolonial Short Fiction in English.Ed. Jacqueline Bardolph. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2001. 145-155. Print.

On Gardens and Gardening. Prod. Hyacinth M. Simpson. Perf. Olive Senior. Toronto: Ryerson University, 2007. DVD.

Phillips, Gyllian. "Personal and Textual Geographies in Olive Senior's Literary Relationship with Jean Rhys."Journal of Caribbean Literatures 3.3 (1997): 199-206. Print.

Raiskin, Juditch. Snow on the Canefields; Women's Writing and Creole Subjectivity. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1996. Print.