"After Making Love We Hear Footsteps"

Paper Summary:

The paper examines how Galway Kinnell captures the essence of marital love and parental love in his poem "After Making Love We Hear Footsteps." The paper illustrates how this is a personal poem that comes to life with irony, comedy, tenderness and realism.

From the Paper:

"Love has been the subject for thousands of poems for thousands of years. What makes love such an interesting topic is the fact that we experience many different forms of love, with each form significant in its own way. Two of the strongest forms of love we experience in our lives are marital love and parental love. Galway Kinnell captures the essence of these types of love in his poem, "After Making Love We Hear Footsteps." This poem is decidedly personal but one would argue that it must be that way in order for us to experience it the way we do. We need to see the tender moment between husband and wife in order to appreciate the moment between parents and child. The poet utilizes irony and humor to lighten the mood and tone of the poem. What is most striking about the poem is its seemingly normal feel. While it may hit us much later after reading it, the poem is actually very deep in its meaning and reach."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Richard J. Calhoun. Galway Kinnell; Overview. GALE Resource Database. <http://www.infotrac.galegroup.com> Site Accessed April 03, 2008.
• Kinnell, Galway. "After Making Love We Hear Footsteps." Poets.org. <http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15927> Site Assessed April 02, 2008.
• MacGowan, Christopher. Twentieth-century American Poetry. New York: Blackwell Publishing. 2004.
• Nelson, Howard. On the Poetry of Galway Kinnell: the Wages of Dying. Ann Arbor: The university of Michigan Press. 2002.

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