“Diving into the Wreck” by Adrienne Rich (1973)

“Diving into the Wreck” is probably Rich’s most famous poem. Written at the high point in her career, it is important to compare this poem’s ideas with those in “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers.” Rich delves into sexuality and identity; this poem can also be interpreted as examining her divorce and her feelings about her own experience with marriage. In this sense, this poem is a matured continuation of the themes put forward in her early work.

“Lullaby” by W. H. Auden (1940)

Though Rich spent much of her career trying to counter Auden’s praise of her work as controlled and modest, Auden certainly influenced Rich’s early work. A poet needs to appeal to the judge’s poetic taste to win a prestigious early award. Auden’s preference for Rich’s A Change of World in the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award shows his influence on her work. Auden wrote “Lullaby” shortly after meeting his lifelong partner, Chester Kallman, and celebrates the love and devotion between two men. Auden was openly gay in a time in America when being gay could cost everything. Rich followed Auden’s lead in her own career as a proud lesbian.