Summary: The speaker describes what is in an old photograph, and informs the reader that she is dead in the lake in the photograph.
Paraphrase: If you look close enough at this old, worn photograph, you will see a tree, a small home, a lake and some hills in the background. I drowned in this lake. If you look very closely, you might be able to see my corpse just below the surface of the water in the center of the lake.
Close Reading: "the day after I drowned."
This is the first time that the word 'I' is used in this poem. Prior to this, there is no indication that the speaker is personally involved with the action of this poem. Therefore, this is the first line that begins constructing a self within this poem. Another function of this line, is that it defines a timeline. The only other line that discusses time is the first line. The first line describes when the photograph was taken. It says 'It was taken some time ago'. Although this is quite vague, it establishes that the photogragh is at least fairly old. When the speaker reveals that she died the day before the photograph was taken, it means that she died a day before 'some time ago'. The fact that the speaker in this poem has been dead for a while, is quite shocking. The only other poem I know of that has a dead speaker is "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner". I see some similarities between these two poems. Both discuss death in a very matter-of-fact way, as if it is not a very significant detail. In the Atwood poem, the speaker is much more concerned with describing what is in the photograph then discussing her death. Also, the use of parenthesis around the final four stanzas makes these stanzas seem trivial in importance. Perhaps this poem is trying to convey the idea that some things, such as a beautiful picture, or a found memory are more significant than death. That even death cannot destroy these things. Another possible meaning is that people endure after death. I say this because of the last stanza. The speaker says "but if you look long enough/ eventually/ you will see me.)' The fact that the speaker is able to be seen in the photograph could mean that she is still alive in spirit.
I like that you home in on the line where the "I" first appears--which fits, of course, the chapter's idea of constructing a self. But is "I" the only way to construct a self? How could a self be being constructed by the apparently objective description of the first half of the poem? Also, what do you make of the parentheses?
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