"A Sunset of the City"

Georganna Greene

Maria Jernigan

English AP Lit

February 8, 2011

Response to “A Sunset of the City”

            Through her monologue, Gwendolyn Brooks compares the passage of time and the seasons to her own process of change and inner growth.  She has no detectable rhythm or rhyme, except for in a few choice lines, but she develops her thoughts about what is there in front of her now and what is to come using nature imagery that mirrors her shift in tone. Starting out in a summer setting, Brooks introduces up front her feelings of being forgotten and less important. With regards to her personal life she recalls, “my daughters and sons have put me away with marbles and dolls,” her despondent tone ringing in her feelings of being left behind. And her reference to the seasons here is that she cannot be fooled into thinking its still the warm, lively, summer just because the sun is in the sky.

            As she continues to dive into her own sea of emotions, winter kicks in. She describes in a now hard, fixed tone, “There is no warm house that is fitted with my need.” She conveys she is “cold in this cold house this house whose washed echoes are tremulous down lost halls,” revealing her harsh sense of depression and loneliness in even the place she should be able to call home. It is when her children are long gone and she “hurries through her prayers,” that she portrays the dead of winter –the darkest time of her year. It is in this darkness that she begins to question her doubt and we see some spark and some fight in the speaker. She consults whether she should “dry in humming pallor or to leap and die.” Brooks knows she can either accept this lost, dismal and aging lifestyle or she can take measures to find joy and value in herself and her life even after what she has lost, and even if that means taking emotional risks that could end in more heartbreak and disappointment.

             I believe the overall purpose behind Brooks’ poem is that everyone experiences loss and disappointment in life as one grows older. However just as winter always passes to spring again, even the darkest of times will pass and there will be a new dawn and a new chance to make the most of life. It is never too late to seize the day. This demonstrates a strength and wisdom in Brooks’ character that she must have accumulated over the years and with her experiences.