LITR 5535: American Romanticism
Student Student Poetry Presentation, fall 2000

Reader: Caroline Garner

Respondent: Sheshe Giddens

30 September 2000

"The Jacob's Ladder"

by

Denise Levertov

Norton Anthology of American Literature, shorter 5^th ed., 2671

Denise Levertov drew from an image in the Hebrew Bible of a ladder reaching up to heaven with angels all about in "The Jacob's Ladder." In actuality, Levertov's inspiration came from a staircase in an old Mexican church.

The first stanza of this poem describes what the ladder is not. It is not a gleaming ray of light; rather, it is made of stone. The second stanza details they type of stone: rosy, soft, glowing. Yet, with this comforting image, a darker side lies behind the stone, once we reach "a doubtful, a doubting night gray." The pinkish colors are replaced by gray.

In the third stanza, it seems the very "sharp angles" man has built hold him back. Also seen are the angels springing about the ladder, almost as if in play. Even they find the ladder a bit difficult because they have to "give a little lift of the wings."

The last stanza describes a man's journey up this ladder. He scrapes his knees, yet is comforted by the smooth, cool stone beneath his feet. He has to use his hands, yet the angels pass by with ease. He continues on his path upwards, while we are left with a powerful message, that "The poem ascends." Does the man?