7/26/2019 [Lap] Ode to 52 hZ
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The poem Ode to 52 HZ is one of the saddest poems I have
ever
encountered. The poem discusses loneliness through the 52 HZ
whalea whale
that no one can understand due to the freuenc! "eing too high
even to other
whales #the! have freuencies of 2$%&$ HZ'. (hat ma)es this
poem grim is the
fact that this whale actuall! e*ists in real life. The
loneliness felt from the whale
was further escalated when +ar! ,nn -aher who is an e*pert in
marine mammal
acoustics and who can possi"l! devise a wa! to understand this
whale has died.
The onl! person that could have possi"l! understood the whale is
now gone thus
the persona as)s who will listen to 52 HZ/
The poems reaches a turning point after this line as the
persona0s hus"and
is mentioned. One )e!word found on the 1&thline of the poem
is +elville the
author of the novel +o"!%dic) which ironicall! had numerous
scenes a"out the)illing of whales. The 1&thline sa!s that the
hus"and has onl! studied +elville
which includes his novels thus through these facts one can infer
that all that the
hus"and has studied is the violence0 against whales. The 13thto
14thline is also
one of the most important lines in the poem as it mentions that
the hus"and is
actuall! a apanese ,merican that the! separated "ecause it
doesn0t alwa!s
wor) out according to )ind and that the persona misses her
mother%in%law.
Through these lines it is seen that the 52 HZ whale acts as a
parallel to thepersona. The persona li)e the whale is e*periencing
loneliness "ecause of their
lac) of communication "etween the other part! #the world to the
whale and the
hus"and to the persona'. ,nd the onl! person that could have
understood them is
gone #in the case of the whale' or estranged #her 6rst
mother%in%law for the
persona' as denoted in the 17thline a freuenc! I cannot return
to.
The line it doesn0t alwa!s wor) out according to )ind is
re8ected through
the whale. 9:he is a whale however not even his:her )ind can
understand him orher which similarl! happens to the persona. ;ven
if the! are "oth humans does
not necessaril! mean that the! can understand each other. This
in a sense is ironic
"ecause although the! can literall! understand each other the!
cannot understand
each other in a deeper level.
7/26/2019 [Lap] Ode to 52 hZ
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can "e heard and the freuenc! of a certain event. In the 6rst
half of the poem it is
used to refer to the sound coming from the whale "ut in the
second half of the
poem it is used to descri"e event that she missed #i.e. a
freuenc! I cannot return
to' and the wa! she hopes with freuenc!.
In the last 4 lines of the poem it heavil! tal)s a"out the
feeling of the whale
and the spea)er. The spea)er mentions that she is "eing a
=omantic thin)ing that
the whale cared that s:he is lonel! and that he )new of his:her
situation that is
wh! he is cr!ing0 to humans since his:her own )ind cannot hear
him:her. >ut then
!ou can also thin) of this part as her pro?ecting or e*pressing
her thoughts and
loneliness. The whale and the persona cr!ing out0 can impl! that
the! are simpl!
tr!ing to 6nd some"od! or something that can trul! understand
al"eit the
possi"ilit! of no one doing so. This re8ects our human nature to
crave for oursoulmates to complete0 and understand us. (e )eep
doing so "ecause there is
this slight glimmer of hope that as long as !ou are alive !ou
might still meet them.
iara @aine +ontano
=37
