Beginning and Ending

In "Words for Departure," Bogan offers many contrasting images, but one important aspect of the poem is the duel image of the lovers beginning and ending their relationship. In her descriptions of the lovers' earliest time together, the speaker gives voice to memories that are now clouded with pain. In line 19 the speaker describes the hesitancy of a new relationship. In the beginning her lover was unsure of himself. She describes his ineptitude as "awkward as flesh." The analogy reveals one of the tensions in the poem. Awkwardness with a new lover is understandable, and the uncertainty of action that accompanies new love is to be expected, but the speaker couples it with the word "flesh," a word that denotes something that is natural. Flesh cannot be awkward, but as the speaker looks back to the beginning, she searches for hints that might have anticipated this...