Beginning in line 1, Olds’ use of visual imagery has already begun with the second word of the poem: “winter” (Olds). This tells the reader immediately that the atmosphere is dark, cold, and icy. The speaker of the poem furthermore explains that the “dead could not be buried. / The ground was frozen” further proving that the season in which the poem is set is so hostile that even the soil is immovable (Olds). As history notes, over 600,000 people in total perished in Leningrad when the siege was finally over, and most of these poor souls were buried in mass, unmarked graves (“The 900-day Siege”). The horror of this fact is further brought to light by the images of bodies “wrapped in dark cloth”; the image of this brings about thoughts of makeshift burial shrouds and the number of people that Death so indiscriminately chooses to follow him (Olds). In line 9, the speaker talks of “pale, gauze, tapered shapes” (Olds). The word pale, as defined by Dictionary.com, means “lacking intensity of color; colorless or whitish”; this image of a colorless, body covered by a thin white wrapping brings to mind the image of a ghoul, hardly a positive spirit in the afterlife.
Moreover, in lines 13 and 14, the speaker tells of bodies whose wrappings have fallen from their cold limbs, revealing “naked calves / hard as corded wood” (Olds). This saddening description forces the reader to realize that their dignity has also been taken away from them by the unfortunate and harsh reality of war, starvation, and a brutal winter. These brave and persistent souls, who died even after defying Death’s call, are now lying half-naked in the frigid cold. The author uses images such as this to remind the reader of what a horrible ordeal the citizens of Leningrad endured while attempting to defend their city.
Continuing to use the power of imagery, the author uses lines 15 and 16 to create an image of a troubled spirit reaching out for help. “A hand reaching out / with no sign of peace” faces us with two symbols: one, of a person reaching out for assistance while in a state of distress, and the other of a haunted spirit who has not yet reached peace in the afterlife. The image of a hand being extended towards another individual has long represented a need for assistance whether it is spiritual or physical (Thorns). The line “with no sign of peace” tells the reader that the spirit of the deceased has not yet reached a place in the afterlife where they can find closure with the issue of the life they led or their untimely death (Olds). The speaker also tells of the dead in line 16: “wanting to come back/ even to the bread made of glue and sawdust, / even to the icy winter, and the siege” (Olds). This statement brings about the harsh realization that death is not a comfortable alternative to the siege. It is instead a dreadful and lonely position to be trapped in; these souls would rather stand alive and feed on false nourishment while defending their city rather than lie dead in an unmarked ditch waiting for the cold to consume them.
Next, the intense use of literary symbolism is seen throughout the poem, beginning also with the word “winter” (Olds). Commonly, each of the seasons represent a different stage of the human experience: spring is paired with birth and new life, the heat of summer is paired with adolescence and the discovery of sexual desires, the fading leaves of autumn are associated with middle age, and the process of death is linked with winter (Thorns). The dark cloths mentioned in line 6 can be most effective if paired with the colors brown or black. These colors generally reflect the absence of life and represent fatality and the unknown (Thorns). These dark cloths also represent the constancy of death, for every person eventually meets their death one way or another. The image of a “child’s sled” in line 4 takes on an image of innocence, and is abruptly set into a world full of chaos and destruction (Olds). It further proves that even the innocent are affected by the struggles of war.
Finally, Olds successfully uses images of life and rebirth juxtaposed with those of death to stress the importance of each life process; she brings the darkness of the poem around to present a glimmer of hope. The image of a “tree’s ball of roots” in line 7 suggests that each individual being laid to rest will become part of nature, even the trees that they are compared to (Olds). Even in lines 10 and 11, Olds compares the dead to “cocoons that will split down the center / when the new life is prepared” (Olds). Cocoons represent new life; both physical and mental rebirth is commonly associated with this image of nature (Thorns).
In January of 1943, the siege was lifted, leaving thousands dead and thousands more still starving and close to their final breaths. The reader is struck with a sense of sadness and general loss, but is introduced to the idea that out of such loss emerges the promise of hope and renewal. Sharon Olds effectively pairs both the horror of the historical siege of Leningrad and the potential for rebirth through visual imagery, common literary symbolism, and the pairing of two of life’s greatest events. In this poem about the horrific battle for Leningrad, the reader witnesses the sadness of death and the miracle of life.
Works Cited
Olds, Sharon. "Leningrad Cemetery, Winter of 1941" Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Alison Booth , J. Paul Hunter and Kelly J. Mays. Shorter 9th ed. New York: Norton, 2006. 717. Print.
"pale." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 17 Feb. 2010.
"The 900-day Siege of Leningrad, Russia (The Leningrad Blockade)." Saint-Petersburg.com - travel and event guide for St Petersburg, Russia. The City of Saint Petersburg. Web. 12 Feb. 2010.
Thorns, Chris. "Literary Symbolism." Web. 14 Feb. 2010.
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