Margaret Gibson's poem "A Grammar of the Soul"

Margaret Gibson's poem "A Grammar of the Soul" is prefaced by a quotation from Jorge Luis Borges which reads "While we sleep here, we are awake elsewhere." The quote prepares the reader for an examination of the divided self. Since the title has already mentioned the soul and the term grammar refers to the rules/structures of language, the reader may also assume that the poem will examine the way the soul works, that is, how it operates as a part of the whole. Whether the division of the self to which the Borges quote refers is between dreaming and waking, soul and body, conscious and unconscious, or real life and aspirations is not entirely clear in the poem. But the soul--undefined in Gibson's poem--can be seen as some part of individual human existence that operates apart from the waking, conscious, rational, pragmatic part of the person and yet is fully integrated into the person's existence. The poet uses an "I" who refers throughout to a "she" to designate the two parts of the person's being. But there is no easy way to determine which of these is the conscious mind and which is the soul. Both are described as waking and sleeping, as engaging in concrete actions, or as experiencing general states of being. And every action or state of being is contrasted with another state or action which is opposed to it in terms of time, space, or intent. Yet, even as they remain totally opposed to each other in so many respects these two aspects of the speaker are intrinsic

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of grass" of the I is warm and inviting enough to be conducive to both "sleeping" and "making love". But there is also a confusion in the combination of the two states. The I describes itself as "sleeping in a field of grass making love" and, while there is some play with the word "sleeping", there is also an implied combination of states of waking and sleeping that brings up another possible split in the I. This stanza also introduces the you, and it is the first time the I relates directly to the she. As the speaker puts it, "I am sleeping in a field of grass making love / with you so that she will love me". Thus it is clear that the I seeks to reconcile its actions with the needs of the she. In the sixth stanza the relationship between the I and the she is intensified. The warmth of the fifth stanza's "field of grass" is replaced by the abstract space "where it is snowing [and] she is freezing to death". But this space where the she is dying is the reflection in a mirror. Thus, for the first time, the I makes it explicit that the I and the she are one. When looking into a mirror it is the self that looks back. Thus, immediately after the revelation that the I relates its actions to the needs of the she there is an e

Category: Literature - M