Sharon Olds is known for keeping her readers on their toes and changing the direction of her poems dramatically and without warning (Galens). This remains especially true in his poem “I Go Back to May 1937.” Olds' cheeky style ensures his message is conveyed clearly, but his original and sometimes unexpected use of imagery keeps the broadcast fresh and entertaining. "I Go Back to May 1937" is about a girl who imagines her parents in a time before she was born, when they were graduating from college. In retrospect he understands how much they have changed since "they [were] stupid, all they know is that they are /innocent, they would never hurt anyone" (lines 11-12). The reader thinks of warning them of the misery they will incur in the future and ending their marital relationship before it begins, but he cannot do so because he would end his own life in the process. Resigning himself to acceptance, the speaker of the poem decides that nothing can be done to change what has already happened. Through the use of powerful diction and shocking imagery, Olds employs a unique stylistic approach to illustrate the age-old truth that you can never change the past. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Olds begins his poem in a tone of evenhanded reminiscence, describing his father as he "strolled / Under the ocher sandstone arch" (line 2-3) before the gates of his boarding school. His father is portrayed confidently, walking to face his future head-on without any fear or reservation, the kind of start one might find in an optimistic coming-of-age story. Olds' tone takes a drastic turn when he describes "the red tiles glittering like bent plates of blood behind his head" (lines 4-5). The bold use of diction in describing something as simple as the architecture of the campus is painting a gruesome portrait of the speaker's father to foreshadow events to come. The speaker's mother is described in much the same way: "I see my mother with some light books at her side, standing by the pillar made of tiny bricks with the wrought iron gate still open behind her, the tips of the black sword in the May air” (lines 5-9). Clear contrast with the speaker's father, his mother does not walk confidently into his future. She stands at an open gate her future but doesn't know if she's ready to transition between the two yet. She stands not behind a solid "sandstone arch" like the speaker's father, but a delicately constructed pillar made of tiny bricks made up of myriad pieces. several which could be a metaphor for her complexity of emotions regarding this critical and uncertain moment in her future life (Metzger). his parents; they're about to graduate, they're about to get married, they're kids, they're stupid, they just know that they're innocent, they would never hurt anyone. go to them and say Stop, don't do it: she's the wrong woman, he's the wrong man, you'll do things (lines 10-15) A child growing up without a father or mother figure may become more independent at an early stage . “I want to go to them and say Stop” (Olds), stating in the narrative that they would not have fun in the future, is where experiences within the family such as constantly seeing parents argue can cause one's identity to be limited and detached. The speaker has a special role in this poem; he is omnipotent in the sense that he can see and judge this couple, their futuresparents, because he sees their past and the decisions that led them to make the mistakes along the way. For her, this degree, this marriage, is on the brink of a precipice. The beginning of a long fall through pain and misery has its roots here in this decision. Vecchi capitalizes the word "Stop" in line thirteen for added emphasis. This suggests an absolute stop is necessary to prevent injury or damage, much like the capital stop on a stop sign on the roads (Galente). After establishing his parents' innocence, the speaker transitions into an unrelenting warning of the cruel reality that their future is staring them in the face; you can't imagine what you would ever do, you will do bad things to children, you will suffer in ways you have never heard of, you will want to die. I want to go to them there, in the late May sunlight, and say it (lines 16-20). The speaker is extremely strong in how she feels about marriage, describing it as bringing great pain and unhappiness. The speaker is angry not only at the couple for allowing the relationship to become the monster it has become, but at herself for not being able to intervene when she knows without a doubt what it will become. The speaker is stuck with options that only bring more problems. The speaker's anger subsides as he realizes the hopelessness of the situation as he explores the couple in the next lines; his beautiful hungry face turning to me, his pitiful beautiful untouched body, his beautiful arrogant face turning to me, his pitiful beautiful untouched body, but I don't. I want to live” (Olds 20). Olds' use of diction is crucial to understanding the message he is trying to send here. He describes the lovers' faces with renewed sense or resolve. The woman's face is "hungry", showing the desire for new opportunities and life decisions to be made, not always with careful contemplation. Added to this is the "arrogant" face of the man, which underlines how much they do not know the repercussions of the choices they are making and whether the reasons for making these choices are the right ones (Metzger). Olds uses syntax here to give the reader an idea that their relationship lacks passion and love. Olds repeats the phrase “pitiful, beautiful body intact” but separates them with the description of the man's face. Olds wants the reader to know that although they are getting married, they are still separated and far from a single union (Galen). The speaker shows her resentment and helplessness again here at the end, when she says that although she knows that they have these problems, that the marriage won't work, and that the couple will hurt many people along the way, she remains silent to preserve one's future life. It is only in the last lines that the speaker finally gives in to the hopeless situation and faces the situation she has been assigned; I take them like male and female paper dolls and bang them together on the hips, like flint chips, as if you make sparks fly out of them, I say Do what you will do, and I will tell it" (Olds 25) Keep in mind: this is just an example. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers. The paper the dolls resemble his last desperate attempt to stage an optimistic ending that he knows will never come to pass. The dolls are something he can control has; their future in her hands, just as she has her own. She accepts that her parents' past cannot be changed; she accepts that the present for her is the result of it, but in the end she decides to do something about the future he cannot create the fire, that passion, that love by “slamming them together on the hips” (line 27) He accepts that he is helpless in his parents' affairs, too. 2012.