English 219
Bartels

Class Exercise

I walked in a desert.
And I cried,
"Ah, God, take me from this place!"
A voice said, "It is no desert."
I cried, "Well, but-
"The sand, the heat, the vacant horizon."
A voice said, "It is no desert."

Analyze this poem, focusing particularly (though not exclusively) on the way the image of the desert works. Determine first what you think the poem is about; then decide how the idea of the desert contributes to it. The speaker is certainly preoccupied with it; what does Crane show you through it?

WARNING: Remember that you can nail down only what the poem lets you nail down, and that ambiguities function strategically (paradoxically) to create certain kinds of meanings. Pay attentions to what you DON'T KNOW about the speaker, situation, and desert, and weave those gaps of knowledge into your interpretation.