Preserving the Poetry

One of the major themes explored in "Memoir" is the ability of the printed word to ensure that poetry is not lost with the ravages of time. Van Duyn introduces this theme in the first stanza when she says, "so the earshell beseeches the eye / to find the sounds it would lose, / and the eye prays that flying words / will be trapped in the amber of print." This opening stanza reflects the fear that poetry that is simply heard or seen in "scattered" places will be forgotten, misplaced, or otherwise lost. Van Duyn's use of the words "beseeches," "prays," and "trapped" signal this fear. By using these particular words, Van Duyn makes readers feel the urgent need and desperation of the hope that the words and sounds "will be trapped in the amber of print" or put into a permanent record, in this case a book...