Poetry Assignment: "Delta" Adrienne Rich pg. 391

Analysis:
    In the poem "Delta," the author uses imagery depicting a shattered and ruined scene, along with a defiant and triumphant tone to convey that the speaker has overcome the faults of their past and is ready to continue moving forward.  The poem by Adrienne Rich opens with the lines, "If you have taken this rubble for my past raking through it for fragments you could sell."  The author paints the picture of broken down debris sitting at the bottom of a river delta.  The speaker correlates their past with this destroyed material to show that they are of no meaning to them and as the "fragments" sit at the bottom of the inferred river delta, these mistakes are to be forgotten. The speaker mentions a potential adversary sifting through the sedimentary rubble in search of something of value. Because the rubble represents the mistakes of the speakers past, it is likely the person looking through the fragments do not plan on helping the speaker move on from their mistakes, but rather use it against them.
    In response to the person rummaging through the pieces of the speakers past, the speaker says to that person, "know that I long ago moved on deeper into the heart of the matter."  Here, the author uses apathetic diction to lead to the idea that the speaker does not mind the investigation of their past. This apathetic diction contributes to the triumphant tone. The apathetic speaker seems to just brush off the this invasion of privacy because they know they have triumphed over their past fouls. While the tone of the second stanza remains triumphant, a shift can be seen from a neutral stance to an aggressive approach. "If you think you can grasp me, think again," this line shows that the speaker goes on the attack against the one who insists on bringing up their past. The line infers that the speaker knows that one cannot get an accurate judgement of their character and being based solely on their past mistakes. When the speaker says "my story flows in more than one direction," the loose and natural diction developed by the choice to use the word flow contributes to a tone of moving forward. The speaker does not wish to dwell on the rubble of their past and plans to flow forward down the other tributaries of life.

Reflection:
    To me, the central message of this poem, to move on from your mistakes, is an extremely valuable lesson. Like the speaker in the poem, I believe that in order to be happy and move on in life, you cannot dwell on past mistakes and regrets. This also may be the case when overlooking the mistakes of other around you. In my personal experience, it has been important for me to not focus on my mistakes but rather make decisions that could benefit me instead.