“Witchgrass” Introduction

• Read the full text of “Witchgrass”

“Witchgrass” Summary

“Witchgrass” Themes

• 

  Fear and Scapegoating

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-32
• 

  Nature vs. Humanity

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-39

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Witchgrass”

• Lines 1-3

  Something ...
  ... calling disorder, disorder—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 4-10

  If you hate ...
  ... tribe for everything—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 11-20

  as we both ...
  ... of failure.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 20-26

  One of your ...
  ... your personal passion—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 27-32

  It was not ...
  ... the two together.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 33-39

  I don’t need ...
  ... constitute the field.

  

  

  

  

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“Witchgrass” Symbols

• 

  The Witchgrass

  Where this symbol appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-10: “Something / comes into the world unwelcome / calling disorder, disorder— / If you hate me so much / don’t bother to give me / a name: do you need / one more slur / in your language, another / way to blame / one tribe for everything—”
  • Line 15: “I’m not the enemy.”
  • Lines 24-26: “whatever is left, whatever / happens to be sturdier / than your personal passion—”
  • Lines 33-39: “I don’t need your praise / to survive. I was here first, / before you were here, before / you ever planted a garden. / And I’ll be here when only the sun and moon / are left, and the sea, and the wide field. / I will constitute the field.”
• 

  The Gardener

  Where this symbol appears in the poem:

  • Lines 15-26: “I’m not the enemy. / Only a ruse to ignore / what you see happening / right here in this bed, / a little paradigm / of failure. One of your precious flowers / dies here almost every day / and you can’t rest until / you attack the cause, meaning / whatever is left, whatever / happens to be sturdier / than your personal passion—”

“Witchgrass” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Personification

  

  

  

  

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  Where personification appears in the poem:

  • Lines 4-6: “If you hate me so much / don’t bother to give me / a name:”
  • Line 15: “I’m not the enemy.”
  • Lines 33-39: “I don’t need your praise / to survive. I was here first, / before you were here, before / you ever planted a garden. / And I’ll be here when only the sun and moon / are left, and the sea, and the wide field. / I will constitute the field.”

• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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  Where enjambment appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-2: “Something / comes”
  • Lines 5-6: “me / a”
  • Lines 6-7: “need / one”
  • Lines 7-8: “slur / in”
  • Lines 8-9: “another / way”
  • Lines 9-10: “blame / one”
  • Lines 12-13: “worship / one”
  • Lines 13-14: “need / one”
  • Lines 16-17: “ignore / what”
  • Lines 17-18: “happening / right”
  • Lines 19-20: “paradigm / of”
  • Lines 20-21: “flowers / dies”
  • Lines 21-22: “day / and”
  • Lines 22-23: “until / you”
  • Lines 23-24: “meaning / whatever”
  • Lines 24-25: “whatever / happens”
  • Lines 25-26: “sturdier / than”
  • Lines 27-28: “meant / to”
  • Lines 29-30: “on / doing”
  • Lines 33-34: “praise / to”
  • Lines 35-36: “before / you”
  • Lines 37-38: “moon / are”

• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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  Where repetition appears in the poem:

  • Line 3: “disorder, disorder”
  • Line 13: “one god”
  • Line 14: “one enemy”
  • Line 15: “enemy”
  • Line 24: “whatever,” “whatever”
  • Line 35: “before,” “before”
  • Line 38: “field”
  • Line 39: “field”

• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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  Where assonance appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “Something”
  • Line 2: “comes,” “unwelcome”
  • Line 4: “hate”
  • Line 6: “name”
  • Line 9: “way,” “blame”
  • Line 11: “both know”
  • Line 24: “whatever,” “left”
  • Line 25: “sturdier”
  • Line 26: “personal”
  • Line 31: “laying blame”
  • Line 32: “two together”
  • Line 37: “here”
  • Line 38: “sea,” “field”

“Witchgrass” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Disorder
• Slur
• Ruse
• Paradigm
• I will constitute the field

• (Location in poem: Line 3: “calling disorder, disorder—”)

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Witchgrass”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Witchgrass” Speaker

“Witchgrass” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Witchgrass”

More “Witchgrass” Resources

• External Resources

  • The Poem Aloud — Listen to Glück reading the poem aloud.

  • A Brief Biography — Read the Poetry Foundation's short overview of Glück's life and work.

  • An Interview with Glück — Read an excerpt from the Paris Review's interview with Glück.

  • Glück's Obituary — Read an obituary for Glück to learn more about her influence and legacy.

  • Glück in Conversation — Watch a short excerpt of a conversation between Glück and the novelist Colm Tóibín.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Louise Glück

  • Gretel in Darkness

  • The Wild Iris