"To Enter That Rhythm Where The Self Is Lost", Muriel Rukeyser

Bio: Muriel Rukeyser (1913-1980) was an American poet and political activist. She is best known for her works on equality, feminism, social justice, and Judaism. Her most famous work, The Book of the Dead, gave details about an industrial accident in which many of the miners died of silicosis.



To Enter That Rhythm Where The Self Is Lost

To enter that rhythm where the self is lost,
where breathing: heartbeat: and the subtle music
of their relation make our dance, and hasten
us to the moment when all things become
magic, another possibility.
That blind moment, midnight, when all sight
begins, and the dance itself is all our breath,
and we ourselves the moment of life and death.
Blinded; but given now another saving,
the self as vision, at all times perceiving,
all arts all senses being languages,
delivered of will, being transformed in truth -
for life's sake surrendering moment and images,
writing the poem; in love making; bringing to truth.



This poem by Rukeyser focuses on the conflicting idea of finding sight in the darkness, and being blinded by light. The setting indicates that she is talking about the specific time when one would best lose the self - meaning, not physically being lost, but losing yourself in something specific. On a grander scale, Rukeyser is creating a comparative metaphor in which she compares the creating of music, the sexual act, childbirth, and writing poetry under the metaphor of the dance. She specifically states that the time when the self is best lost is at midnight, because that is the time when we can truly see the beauty of the things around us. Rukeyser uses the paradox of sight beginning at the peak of night to explain this point better; the more blind one becomes to the harshness of reality, the more sight they gain on the beauty of nature. The comparisons that Rukeyser makes is that in order to truly create something wonderful and beautiful out of writing poetry, making music, or making love, one must immerse himself in the darkness in order to hyperfocus his senses on what makes those experiences great; the words in the poem, the tune and lyrics of the song, the sensations of sex. She also mentions childbirth because we exit a world of darkness and ignorance in the womb and enter a world full of sensory experiences, like sight, smell, touch, taste, and sound. In birth, one may not lose oneself in finding sight in the darkness, but one metaphorically loses oneself in the sensory experiences, and also losing oneself in the trust and care of a parent or guardian.