The Guild

right away, even after just hearing the title my mind conjures images of old fashioned unions. Where young people would enlist in order to learn their trade of choice and hone thier skills.

Every night, as my grandfather sat

Right away we are told this happens very frequently. This is something that occurs with unerring certainty.

in the darkened room in front of the fire,

Picture and older man, face wrinkled from years of labor and sweat, sitting in a recliner next to a fire. i see a walleye, or perhaps a deer head, mounted above the mantle. The lights are out. He doesnt want to be alert to whats going on in the room. He wants to sit there and just be by himself.

the liquor like fire in his hand, his eye

Hes fixed himself a drink. He sits in the dark, sipping. Most likely he has the bottle next to the chair, so that he doesnt ahve to get up in order to refresh his glass. i find it interesting Old's places the eye at the end of this line, as opposed to the beggining of the next. Almost to say that the fire is in the mans eye as well. The liquor is fire. It consumes the man, melting his problems and at the same time destroying his very soul.

glittering meaninglessly in the light

the man has no meaning. He is trying to hide from all his troubles. He is simply trying to forget. The light plays off his eyes, but they are dead and lifeless, there is no vitality there, only sorrow. He feels his life is meaningless. A powerful destructive feeling if ever there was one.

from the flames, his glass eye baleful and stony

does this mean he actually has a glass eye? Olds is playing with us here. The eye is every bit real, but it is glassed over, filled with flaming liquor. Baleful, what a good word. Full of fire. There is a duality at work here. The eye is in the previous line is described as meaningless, but here it is described as baleful, and then two words later stony.

a young man sat with him

this ones pretty self explanatory.

in silence and darkness, a college boy with

the boy too it seems has things he wants to forget. He desires the silence and the darkness as much as the old man. Olds emphasises the boy is still young with words like boy and college. He has no business sitting in the dark, nor any great reason to other than to be like the old man, and yet he does.

White skin, unlined, a narrow

again, Olds is alluding to the youth and innocence of the boy.

beautiful face, a broad domed head

here Olds again puts words in the above lines to give us a stronger impression. instead of it saying a narrow beautiful... it simply says beautiful.

forehead, and eyes amber as the resin from

The young man has brown eyes, and they are still full of life. The old man has stony eyes, yet the young man has eyes of amber. They glow.

trees too young to be cut yet.

the boy is the tree! he shouldnt be cut yet either! the tree metaphor casts a vitality and wildness on the boy. He is growing and has not yet reached his peak.

This was his son, who sat, an apprentice

It is an unending cycle. Father trains son, who trains his son, and so on. We learn so much from our parents, both the good and the destructive.

night after night, his glass of coals

Again, this happens every night with great regularity. Again the liqour is given a fiery metaphor. It seethes a person if left unchecked.

Next to the old mans glass of coals,

like father, like son.

and he drank the old man's drink, and he learned

the boy is now completing his apprenticeship. He is on par with the man, he can take hold down the elders fire.

the craft of oblivion-- that young man

My earlier assumption seems to be coming true. The old man sits in the darkened room and drinks to forget his troubles and become unaware of what is going on in his life. Things are coming half circle, the boy is no longer an apprentice, he has mastered his trade.

not yet cruel, his hair dark as

but the boy cannot match the old man in meanness or indifference yet.

soil that feeds the tree's roots

Here again we have quite the duality. Olds is using a powerful life giving, vital, metaphor here to represent the boy. But, just as the minerals are sucked from the soil by the tree, so to is the boys spirit and very soul being sucked into the bottle. His hair is still dark, very soon he will begin to lose it all together.

that son who would come to be in his turn

things are reaching full circle. As the old mans reign is ending, the boy is right there to take his place.

better at this than his teacher, the apprentice

Not only is the boy in the old man's place, he has surpassed him. Better from the beginning lets us know that the boy now is in control, there is no place for doubt at all.

who would pass his master in cruelty and oblivion

Darth Vader anyone? sorry, all this talk of apprentices and otherwise have made me think of Star Wars. Oblivion; There is that word again, it really sticks out for me. It is located here and five lines up. Not only is the boy/man cruel, but he doesnt care, he is oblivious, and sometimes that is the worst kind of cruelty. He has shut himself inside his bottle. He has become the old man, he has passed him.

drinking steadily by the flames in the blackness

Olds brings the poem full circle just like the characters. She opened with the image of the old man sitting by the fireplace in his darkened den, and now she ends with the apprentice having assumed the exact same pose.

that young man my father

this little twist at the end serves to drive home the poem to the reader and make them more involved before sending them away. When we know this is Olds' father, we feel sorry for her and gain a further personal involvement in the poem. She sits in the darkness and has to watch her father sink into oblivion. Perhaps he is repeating the process on her brothers...

13 Olds // Fillin' Daddy's Big Shoes    Scott

Every night, as my grandfather sat

The first word of the poem jumps out at me. Olds is making it clear that the following situation happened all the time. Every single night. The day could have been spent doing various things, but the night always brought out its usual routine.

in the darkened room in front of the fire,

It's strange to think about the contrast of a darkened room and the fire. I always picture a fire lighting up a darkened area. Here, even with the fire blazing, the room is darkened. This image makes me think of hell or Satan. There is no light in sight, but there is fire all around. An uncomfortable and disturbing image.

the liquor like fire in his hand, his eye

Again, Olds makes a reference to fire. Her memories of her grandfather appear troubled. In this line, "his eye" seems to be peeking out and taking a look at the story being told. I'm thinking of a literary image of an eye--it watches the other words, since it really doesn't fit in with them. We are forced to wait until the next line to find out about the mysterious eye. "his eye" is still watching, waiting, to see if anyone will defy it. The comma makes me pause before I can learn more about the eye. Okay, there's alcohol, fire, a darkened room, the eye....but what next? Also, the "fire in his hand" reference makes me think of a weapon of evil.

glittering meaninglessly in the light

I wonder where Olds gets this imagery. It almost seems as though she has acquired a picture of her father and grandfather in years gone by. She knows, or perhaps she can intensely understand, how the setting would have looked and felt. How does something "glitter meaninglessly"? Is it because the fire is reflecting, even dancing, in his eyes, though there is little feeling or soul behind them? For most people, I would think that light from a fire could provide a window to the soul. The eyes often tell you what kind of person is behind them. In this case, the eyes glitter from the effects of the fire, but the grandfather still looks indifferent. Even with the glitter of the flame, the grandfather still has no strong emotion or feeling. I cannot see behind his eyes--is anything there?

from the flames, his glass eye baleful and stony,

Now we are told about the glass eye. At first, I wonder why she describes it as "baleful" and "stony." But here too the description appears to fit the personality. The grandfather is a wooden man, distant and difficult to know. The searching eye is ominous, harmful, malignant, with questionable intentions. How did the man lose the eye? The heat of the fire and the searching eye make for a frightening picture. Although the eye is made of glass, it looks like it can mysteriously move. It is alive. This description brings out a feeling of roughness or bitterness. The grandfather has probably lived a hard life, a cold life, which is now trying to be heated by a fire. But it's still dark in front of the fire. It's always dark. Is there redemption for him? The glass eye makes it difficult to know what's in his head. Others can look at him, but there exists no window to the soul. The eye stays the same, regardless of the situation. He cannot be figured out. Is there anger behind the glass eye?

a young man sat with him

Perhaps this young man is the guild, the student who wants to be tutored, who wants to be a part of something bigger than himself. He shares similar interests and feelings with the old man. I wonder why the young man would also want to sit in the darkened room, along with the drunken grandfather. What rewards are offered for doing so? The only thing I can think of is that the boy wants to be like the man. He wants to grow up and follow in his footsteps, regardless of the tough life that may lie ahead. In fact, he may not think of it as a tough life. The boy likes the thought of sitting in front of a fire drinking things that are themselves "like fire."

in silence and darkness, a college boy with

Again, perhaps for emphasis, we are told about the darkness. The room is pitch black. But there is no talking. This is a strange image to me. It makes me feel a bit uncomfortable. It seems like one of those awkward silences, but in this case it's not so awkward--it's the normal occurrence among the two men. Instead of talking to each other, sharing love, the two men sit in silence. Here too the line break is effective. We know that the young man is "a college boy," but we're not really sure of what kind. Is he as mysterious and quiet as the grandfather? I must read on to find out.

white skin, unlined, a narrow

The young man seems to be built differently than the grandfather. He is young, with white skin that is unlined. A picture of health.

beautiful face, a broad domed

Olds makes a specific attempt to point out the youthfulness in the young man. Simply put, he has a "beautiful face." To me, this represents promises of success and happiness. The young man has opportunities before him, whereas the grandfather is watching and waiting for his life to slow down. The two men are in different positions in life, but they sit together. Obviously, the connection between them is important.

trees too young to be cut yet.

I always associate the word "amber" with jewelry. There is a sense of wonder about the young man. He's off to college, making something of himself, very different from the old grandfather--not necessarily in a bad way however. Perhaps the grandfather lived a very successful and happy life, and now the young man is trying to follow in his footsteps. Their unspoken silence communicates on a far deeper level than their words ever could. I'm starting to think I could have been too harsh on the grandfather before. He has this special relationship with the young man, a young man who is doing well for himself. His tree is still growing and remains healthy. Olds description of him is hopeful. Amber, jewelry, green, freshness, trees, breathe, space--these are images, sounds, words brought immediately to the forefront of my mind.

This was his son, who sat, an apprentice,

Now, half-way through the poem, the young man's identity is revealed. The son is indeed attempting to follow in the footsteps of his old man. Olds carefully selects the word "apprentice." The young boy is a beginner, a learner of knowledge. He is in a school to learn the ways of the world. Perhaps nights like these allow him to understand just as much as a riveting book could. He doesn't need to speak to his father, but just sit near him, feel his aura, to find the correct path in life. He looks at the sacrifices his father made for him, the student, the healthy young man, and says his thank-you's by spending a dark night alone with him.

night after night, his glass of coals,

Olds makes yet another reference to the fact that this scene took place every night. In a way, I think she could be doing this to relate in a literary way the similarities of the young man to his father. It is like a circle, or a complete cycle of a poem (a circular poem). What has happened in the old man's life will soon happen to the boy. What was described in the beginning of the poem will therefore be described once again. We are now focusing on the boy, but his situation is described in a manner not unlike his father's. We are told that this scene took place every night, but this was also told to us earlier when the grandfather was at the center of attention. Indeed, this looks like a literary way of showing the lifelong connection between the two men.

and he drank when the old man drank, and he learned

The boy, we are learning, is much more like his father than it first appeared. Although they are very different on the outside, Olds tells us that "he drank when the old man drank." Now Olds is using the same words to describe the action of two different individuals. He drank..old man drank. How much more alike can two men become? What could have been a touching scene has now returned to its earlier strangeness. Why does the young man drink with the grandfather? I'm not liking this situation too much anymore. Perhaps my first reaction to the grandfather was correct--he's an evil man.

not yet cruel, his hair dark as the

The word "craft" makes a perfect connection with the apprentice description earlier. The boy is learning his craft. Unfortunately, the grandfather (master) is not a blacksmith or a tailor, but a cold man. A drunkard. The dash used in this line by Olds seem to represent a longing to return to the bright description of the boy, if only for a moment. She doesn't want to go into those terrible details about how the young man lost his youth and vigor under the watch of the grandfather. Olds wants to put her focus back on the happy times, when the boy was full of promise and light, not the darkness of the room.

soil that feeds the tree's roots,

Earlier, Olds made a reference to boy's eyes as "resin from trees too young to be cut." His dark hair, dark like soil, was the beginning of the beauty in the eyes. Indeed, Olds pictures the eyes as a window to the soul. The boy used to possess jewels for eyes before he became cruel. Compare jewels for eyes with the mysterious reflection given off by the glass eye. You can't see what's behind the glass, what kinds of things are spinning around in the mind. The soul does not shine, but reflects. Jewels always shine. We can see the beauty and worth of a jewel.

better at this than the teacher, the apprentice

Exactly what every master wants to see happen with his apprentice. The craft is learned so well that he can take the place, perhaps even improve, the business of the teacher. But this story doesn't appear to have such a happy ending. I find it interesting that Olds points out that the son would soon have his "turn" to be like the grandfather. It's almost like a changing of the guard. The father brings the boy up and passes on the baton of cruelty and coldness when he dies.

who would pass his master in cruelty and oblivion,

I associate the word "pass" with progress or moving forward, but here the idea is much different. The father actually takes a step backward, regresses into a more difficult and painful life. Interesting word choice; almost like a race to see who can become the worse man. The grandfather was in the lead, but soon the young man would pass him.

drinking steadily by the flames in the blackness,

The flames and blackness are noted again. The cycle appears complete. The boy has grown up to assume the same role, the same position as his own father. The word "steadily" is used to signify the "every night" occurrence of the drinking and sitting by the fire.

that young man my father.

A personal and painful connection. It's almost like Olds had to separate herself from the literary picture until it had faded somewhat from her mind. Obviously, she wasn't around when the described events were taking place, but it seems as though she wouldn't have wanted to be. She can acknowledge her personal relationship with her troubled father (the young man, college boy) only when the poem is nearing completion. To begin the poem by explaining that the following events were part of her father's life would have been too real, too painful. I also find it interesting that the poem used no spoken dialogue between the two men, yet the action spoke volumes. I don't think dialogue would fit correctly in this poem. Silence can explain more, especially in how Olds writes about it, than the spoken word ever could.

13 Sharon Olds // the double darkness     John

I had an interesting time reading this poem for the simple fact that I couldnt tell if I was tired and repeating some images in my head or if she really put them there.

Every night, as my grandfather sat

in the darkened room in front of the fire

the liquor like fire in his hand, his eye

The first thing I noticed within this poem is the double imagery. Notice that he was sitting in front of a fire and the liqour was fire. I found this to be an amazing dichotomy as a hearth is considered warm and friendly but the liquor is such a sharp and dark image pattern.

glittering meaninglessly in the light

from the flames, his glass eye baleful and stony,

Once again it comes back this double imagery in his eye glittering meaninglessly while his glass eye is baleful and stony. I found this so interesting because of the reversal of descriptions. Shouldnt the glass eye glitter meaninglessly while the other eye hold meaning? And the description of both eyes along with the description of both fires starts to weigh in heavier as the introduction of the son begins...

a young man sat with him

in silence and darkness, a college boy with

This introduction of a second person, a pupil, let me believe that the double imagery is there to show the two men as they sit before the fire. One being so much more than the next with potential evil. The real eye glitters meaninglessly (the older man) while the good eye shows stormy and baleful, foreshadowing the true evil potential within this younger man. He is not yet real to the world but he holds so much more danger within himself. It can be put on the fire imagery as well, with the fire being the Grandfather and the liquor that reflects is fire as well.

white skin, unlined, a narrow

beautiful face, a broad domed

forehead and eyes amber as the resin from

trees to young to be cut yet

a beautiful group of imagesz all hinting at the youth and vtality. This reminds me of the images of the devil that are used to describe him. In certain stories you finds the devil being described as pale and unlined, almost beautiful, but not quite right in some way, and that is what I am left with hear.

This was his son, who sat, an apprentice,

night after night, his glass of coals,

next to the old mans glass of coals

The glass of coals of coarse being anoter double meaning as the liquor and as the fire that burned within. A glass of coals is so much within so little. The fire of the liqour they drank, and the fire of the anger and oblivion they held

and he drank when the old man drank, and he learned

the craft of oblivion--that young man

This image of apprentice calls to mind that of the simple story line of apprentice who learns and eventually bests his master. The potential is there, but the interesting part is that their craft is oblivion, nothingness, in fact more than nothingness, absolute nothingness

not yet cruel, his hair dark as the

soil that feeds the trees roots,

Another image of trees that speakes of the youth and impression of the young man. A tree feeds from the soil and if the soil is tainted then so is the tree. And the darkness of his har also reflects on that evil imagery. (I wish I could remember the short story that desribed the devil in this way but alas, it is late.)

that son who would come to be in his turn

better than the teacher, the apprentice

who would pass his master in cruelty and oblivion,

This of course is what I brought up about the aprentice becoming better than the master. I cant tell you how many times I read a book with this plot. And always is it is expected that the aprentice just seems to lack something that gives him reason... It makes him that much more cruel because he could not learn the truth to why, he wasnt the originator merely an imposter and that makes him much more cruel to make up for that fact.

drinking steadily by the flames in the blackness,

that young man my father.

This is the clinching statement that ties it all in. This imagined lesson that her father has learned, it is that great cycle of abuse steadily geating to be greater. I have to admit though, I feel like the end of the poem loses what the beginning had. It comes down to a blunt statement that takes a way all the layers. I loved the first half of this poem because it had so much within it and I felt it started to lose it as it closed in on this cliche clinching statement.

And that is what I have to say about that.