The Garden reflection

While we were reading the poem The Garden in class yesterday, I enjoyed analyzing the poem. The first time that we read the poem, I didn’t quite understand what the poem was saying. However, as we read it several times and practiced Lectio Divina I was able to analyze different parts of the poem and pick apart what we believe the author was trying to portray. Different phrases that stood out to me were “She is dying piecemeal of a sort of emotional anemia”. Another phrase that stood out to me was “She would like some one to speak to her”. This stood out to me and made me ask myself what I am noticing about the needs of others? I asked myself whether I am noticing people that need attention or that need love. This challenges me in my everyday life to look out for people who seem lonely or need someone to talk to. I hate the feeling of loneliness. I think that everyone does. But the question I must ask myself is, do I only care when I am lonely, or do I care when someone else is feeling lonely also?

Another question that was pressed on my heart while reading this poem is how I feel about social classes in our society. Do I base my opinion of someone simply on what social class they belong to? A line in the poem that sticks out to me is “…And is almost afraid that I will commit that indiscretion.” This may seem somewhat silly to us that talking to someone would be considered an “indiscretion”, but do I speak to people, even if it could potentially turn into an awkward conversation? Do I love people the way that my Jesus would love them? This is a question that I think is important for everyone to answer.

While we read Professor Corrigan’s reflection on the poem I was amazed by the way in which he interpreted the poem. It was an amazing paper that was written, very insightful, and very thought provoking. I thought it was interesting how he related the poem to the situation that was going on in his own life at the time, with his wife. I don’t think I would have related it to something like that, but that is the beauty of interpreting literature and the difference in everyone’s opinions. It was a very good essay and I would like to be able to write like that some day.