Having It Out with Melancholy

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1992

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Symbols & Motifs

Medication

Kenyon often refers to medications by their official names, such as monoamine oxidase inhibitors. The names’ complexity in an otherwise plain-spoken poem can shock the reader. If the reader is unfamiliar with the drugs’ titles, they feel overwhelmed. This emotional state allows readers a small window into the overwhelming experience of trying to take medicine while depressed. For readers familiar with these drugs, their appearance makes the poem more intimate and relatable to lived experiences.

The medication motif most notably appears in the second section, which introduces the medication through a sentence fragment (a sentence without a subject or a verb is called a sentence fragment). Kenyon does not directly depict herself taking “Elavil, Ludiomil, Doxepin, / Norpramin, Prozac, Lithium, Xanax, / Wellbutrin, Parnate, Nardil, Zoloft” (Lines 21-23). Readers can intuit that Kenyon has tried them all since she classifies sensory differences between different types. Since this list happens early in the poem, readers can also connect it to the opening quote about diseases with multiple remedies lacking a cure. Kenyon worries that these drugs will not work for her.

Additionally, people with depression frequently report feelings of “just going through the motions,” feeling disconnected from their actions, and being “here simply to wait for death” (Line 13). This section’s lack of someone actively taking the medications mirrors these symptoms. When Kenyon describes the medication’s tastes, it feels more present and connected to the world than she does. However, it also provides hope since the medication later helps her “come back” to her life and feel “ordinary contentment” (Line 98).

Nature

Throughout “Having It Out with Melancholy, “the natural world acts as an opposing force toward depression. Although Kenyon states, “everything under the sun and moon / made me sad,” she still links “the pleasures of earth” with divinity (Lines 7-8, 12-14).

Later, Kenyon finds peace in a “river of light” (Line 38). She feels connected “with the whole / human family” in the river (Lines 34-35). She notes its glowing colors and sobs when depression kidnaps her from it.

Her dog’s presence and devotion to her inspire her to stay alive. The poem finishes with her listening to “the wild, complex song” of a wood thrush (Line 96). She lauds the bird’s features, as well as the tree upon which it perches. Natural beauty overwhelms her; it’s powerful enough to make Kenyon forget about depression for a while.

Light

Kenyon contrasts her depression with sources of light. In the first section, depression takes away her ability to enjoy nearly everything “under sun and moon” (Line 7); however, the word “under” means “the sun and moon” are not included.

Kenyon also uses light to signal defiance of her depression and enjoyment of existence throughout the poem. She characterizes the vision that made her “no longer hate[…] having to exist” with illumination (Line 44). She enters “the river of light” as “a speck of light” (Lines 37-38). As Kenyon floats, she sees all of humanity as “colors” (Line 40). When depression plucks her from the river, she shows her sense of hurt and loss by emphasizing the river as “glowing” (Line 47).

In the final section, the “June light” precedes her moment of joy listening to the wood thrush’s song (Line 91), showing she has a moment of rest from her depression.