Living in Sin

Adrienne RichFiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1954

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Form and Meter

“Living in Sin” is a free-verse poem, having no regular meter or rhyme scheme. Even though the man’s and the woman’s stories are separate, the form of the poem places them in one large stanza, suggesting their lives as crammed in their studio apartment. Even when time jumps from the morning to the evening, the lines are all still within the one stanza. The poem also features enjambment with sentences carrying over from one line to the next, bringing forth the elongated sense of time and the ongoing activities and thought process of the female character in particular. Many, though not all, of the lines have some type of punctuation mark at the end, such as a period, semi-colon, ellipsis, or comma, that serves a function to understanding the content. For example, the line that ends with an ellipsis is about the beetle that the woman encounters in her kitchen, and the ellipsis seems to suggest a longer exchange between the two than the poet recounts.

Alliteration and Assonance

The repetition of initial consonant sounds, or alliteration, adds to the rhythmic qualities of the poem and draws attention to certain visuals and language choices. For example, “half heresy” in line 3 emphasizes the religious zeal with which one focuses on love and, to question it, seems like blasphemy. There is a breathy quality to the use of two “h” sounds. One line later, “p” sounds pervade that seem to give punch and oomph to the visual elements of the apartment upon which the woman fixates: “a plate of pears, / a piano with a Persian shawl” (Lines 4-5).

The repetition of vowel sounds in a phrase, or assonance, also adds to the rhythm and meaning. In Line 11, the “e” sound in “cheese” and “three” seems to ooze out of the words, as the food oozes all over the apartment, which the woman now has to clean. This “e” sound is also present in “demons” and “sheets” in Lines 19-20, connecting a sense of unease with her daily chores. In addition to the “e,” the “uh” sound of “shrugged” and “rubbed” in Lines 17-18 suggests the man’s hesitation at what is going on around him and choosing to escape rather than stay and figure it out.

Imagery

Visual and aural imagery are dominant in this poem, but lines also evoke a sense of touch, taste, and smell. The mess of the apartment is crucial to the poem, so Rich interjects scenic elements, including dust on the furniture and tabletops, dirty windowpanes, leftover cheese, and a dish of fruit, which also evoke the senses of smell and taste. These elements suggest the importance of cleaning, traditionally a woman’s chore. The items are also intermingled with images of active and interactive creatures often associated with uncleanliness, such as a “picturesque” mouse (Line 6) that the cat chases and a beetle among the items on a kitchen shelf. Juxtaposed with these more unkempt images are those associated with beauty and wealth, including “a piano with a Persian shawl” (Line 5). A sense of play exists within the imagery of this poem, contrasted with the reality of the dirt and grime. The living environment is likened to a doll house, especially after it has been cleaned in the mornings, with features that a reader would want to touch, including the piano, the cat, and the Persian shawl.

Even though no one speaks in this poem, some of the characters have sounds that fill the apartment space, including the man’s yawn and out-of-tune keyboard playing as well as the symbolic “milkman’s tramp” (Line 9) up the stairs each morning. Even certain objects, such as the coffee-pot, suggest sounds, as well as aromas, that the characters are likely to experience as a matter of routine.