Lilacs in September

Shocked to the root

like the lilac bush

in the vacant lot

by the hurricane–
whose black  branch split

by wind or rain

has broken out

unseasonably
into these scant ash-

colored blossoms

lifted high

as if to say
to passersby

What will unleash

itself in you

when your storm comes?

                          Katha Pollitt

Poetry Analysis - Lilacs in September

            “Lilacs in September”, by Katha Pollitt, is a poem of allegorical style and image. The author successfully challenges the reader in just four short stanzas to make something good of the bad that comes to their life. Using a somewhat violent, yet very beautiful, image Pollitt depicts her moral through her use of cacophonous diction and contrasting ideas.

            Though there is no “I” written in the first line, it is in my own understanding that Pollitt is referring to herself when she says “Shocked to the root”. She does this to bring the reader down to a place that is level with her own situation, in the same way she would have brought someone to eye-level had she been speaking to them in person; in a way that mothers do when their children must understand, and the way friends do when they must speak in private. Also, the harsh sounds of “shocked” and “root” grab the reader’s attention very suddenly. Immediately after this line, however, she switches out of this [first] person and into third, altering the tone into something more poetic with “like the lilac bush”. Though the cacophonous sounds still continue, the image of a lilac bush softens the idea and makes it more peaceful to the mind.

She then contrasts the sweet purple flowers with the hurricane that has come to the area and destroyed everything around, creating a “vacant lot”; flattening everything. She illustrates the “split” in the “black branch”, showing the very real and physical damage that has been done to the bush, the damage that all can see if only they looked. Then, bringing a positive outcome from the negative effects of the hurricane, “ash-colored blossoms” are suddenly brought into the depiction, “lifted high”. Though the blossoms do not portray their usual soft purple color, they are there.

This is the idea  and theme that Pollitt is trying to get across to the reader. A flower, something so beautiful and fragile, has withstood the terrible force of a hurricane, which masses in size and strength far over that of most plants. Through  a ferocious storm, the lilac bush has blossomed, out of season, and even with real damage done to the branches. Pollitt uses this, not only to encourage the reader to bring something positive from the harsh times that may come into ones life, but also to challenge them to do so. “What will unleash itself in you when your storm comes?”

I enjoyed this poem very much so. It is very similar in theme and tone to a previous poem that I analyzed (In Blackwater Woods), and shares the same positive outlook on life and the struggles that must be endured by all. I also love the way that this is appealed through the use of natural phenomenon rather than human situations, as it makes the reader more easily see how beautiful the outcome can be.