Bess
"Ours are the streets where Bess first met her
cancer. She went to work every day past the
secure houses. At her job in the library
she arranged better and better flowers, and when
students asked for books her hand went out
to help. In the last year of her life
she had to keep her friends from knowing
how happy they were. She listened while they
complained about food or work or the weather.
And the great national events danced
their grotesque, fake importance. Always
Pain moved where she moved. She walked
ahead; it came. She hid; it found her.
No one ever served another so truly;
no enemy ever meant so strong a hate.
It was almost as if there was no room
left for her on earth. But she remembered
where joy used to live. She straightened its flowers;
she did not weep when she passed its houses;
and when finally she pulled into a tiny corner
and slipped from pain, her hand opened
again, and the streets opened, and she wished all well."
(Poetry Foundation)
Subject: A woman named Bess
Thematic Statement: People hide the worst parts of their lives from others.
Attitude: secretive, miserable, hopeful
Audience: People who are going through a tough time
Rhetorical Strategies: Personification—“Pain moved where she moved.” (12); Details—“Ours are the streets where Bess first met her cancer.” (1-2).
In his contemporary poem “Bess,” William Stafford includes details and personification to demonstrate that people have bad experiences with life despite their joyful appearances. Stafford opens the poem with the detail that Bess “met her cancer” and that she helps her community (1-2). By saying Bess has cancer and immediately mentioning the ways she is kind to others, Stafford reveals that Bess is hiding her sickness. She does these kind acts to ensure that others forget about her bad times. Later in the poem, the pain she is experiencing is personified as having “moved where she moved.” (12). Despite her earlier attempts to hide it, Bess has to confront her suffering. Even though she appears entirely happy and well to others, she is secretly being tormented. Through mentioning Bess’ sickness and personifying her pain, Stafford displays how people hide their weaknesses with a cheerful image.