Louse Glück's "Witchgrass" first appeared in her 1992 book The Wild Iris, a collection in which personified plants talk (and sometimes talk back) to a gardener. This poem's speaker is the titular "Witchgrass," a hardy plant that some gardeners consider a weed. But calling plants weeds, this witchgrass objects, is a lot like calling people witches: it's just a way to unfairly blame them for feelings that aren't their fault. This witchgrass is confident that it will outlive and outlast any gardener who dares tar it with a "slur." This witty poem explores both the power of nature and people's habit of dealing with pain by scapegoating, finding a way to "blame / one tribe for everything" to avoid facing their own "failure."

• 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

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