Summary and Exercises of I Was My Own Route , By: Julia de Burgos

 

I Was My Own Route

1. Summary :

This poem is composed by Julia de Burgos. Most of her poems are rich with themes of blackness, nationalism, feminism and social justice.

In this poem also we find her doing feminism. In other words, she is advocating for equal women rights to those of men.

Here her aim is to make women aware of their rights and freedom. She encourages them to detach themselves from the age worn patriarchal norms, and move on the path of  setting up own identity.

But she has not put her idea in any argumentative or advisory way. She only presents her own example as to how she detached herself from the age worn  norms to set up her  identity.

Initially she was ready to follow the norms set up by male-dominated society. But she felt she was a different stuff, she was not a woman of the 'past', she was she was made of 'nows'. 

With this realization she boldly defied (refused to obey) the idea that her course of life would be determined by the males. She determined her own route and and started journey on it. Finally she set her own identity. 

It wasn't an easy task. The self appointed custodians and guardians of the society were dead against this rebel (rising against opposition) . She was attacked badly by them. They pulled her legs behind as much as they could. But the speaker faces all such obstructions and impediments boldly.

 Finally she was successful in  establishing her own identity.

--------------------------------------------------

2. Understanding the stnazas:

Stanza 1. 

I wanted to be like men wanted me to be:

an attempt at life;

 a game of hide and seek with my being.

But I  was made of nows,

and my feet level on the promissory earth

would not accept walking backwards

and went forward, forward,

mocking the ashes to reach the kiss

of new paths.

Explanation:

As the poem opens, she declares at first she was ready to be as men wanted her to be.

She wanted to follow the age old patriarchal (a system of society controlled by men) tradition of society. It was only because she wanted to lead her life peacefully (or because she was not aware of her identity till then), although she didn't like it. 

She felt that submitting to (accepting) traditional feminine role was a game of hide and seek with her own being. And she was not ready for it. Her inner-self didn't accept it. 

Then she set her feet on the path of a change in the situation. Now She walked forward and forward on the path of own identity, mocking 'the ashes' (i.e. the old traditions and conservative mindedness).

Thus in the very first stanza she detaches herself from the past breaking all conservative social boundaries and  standards.

Stanza 2. 

At each advancing step on my route forward 

my  back was ripped by the desperate flapping wings

of the old guard.

Explanation:

This stanza is about the barriers and impediments (obstacles/ hinderances) to her new path. 

Her journey to the new path was not easy for her. It was nothing like a cake walk. At each advancing step she had to face fierce social disapprovals and roadblocks of the society. 

She says her back was ripped, that is heavy severe scornful criticism. The old guards of the society (people who were entirely against any change) never wanted to loosen their grip on their ideologies.

Stanza 3. 

But the branch was unpinned for ever,

and at each new whiplash my look 

separated more and more and more from the distant 

familiar horizons;

and my face took the expansion that came from within, 

the defined expression that hinted at a feeling

of intimate liberation;

a feeling that surged 

from the balance between my life 

and the truth of the kiss of the new paths.

Explanation:

This stanza shows a firmness in her tone. She had detached herself completely from the patriarchal ideologies in spite of all the whiplashes  (a blow with a whip) and blows from the society. 

Once she had set her feet on her route, she kept moving forward and forward. This shows her firm decision to become free and to make a new beginning regardless of the implications. She felt a surge (rush) for an intimate liberation from within, which made her move forward kissing the new path of liberation.

Here we find her bravery, decisiveness and commitment to individualism.

Stanza 5.

Already my course now set in the present,

I felt myself a blossom of all the soils of the earth,

of the soils without history,

of the soils without a future,

of the soil always without edges

of all the men and all the epochs.

Explanation

By this stanza, she is in the present, and her course is set in the present. That is, she has proved herself.

She is full of self-confidence. She is clear of her goal, and clear of her role as a pioneer of the new path of life. 

She calls herself a blossom (flower) which can bloom (flowering) in any adverse (uncomfortable) situations. She is like a flower which can grow freely at anywhere.

Stanza  6.

And I was all in me as was life in me ...

I wanted to be like men wanted me to be:

an attempt at life;

Explanation:

Although in the beginning she wanted to be like men wanted her to be (to conform to the traditional society).  

But as she was made of a different stuff (I was made of 'nows'), she detached herself completely from the age worn patriarchal expectations form women, and set on the way of establishing women-identity, now she feels empowered.

Stanza 7.

a game of hide and seek with my being.

But I was made of nows;

when the heralds announced me 

at the regal parade of the old guard,

the desire to follow men warped in me,

and the homage was left waiting for me ....

Explanation:

In this last stanza she announces that finally her initial desire to follow men ended within her, and the game of hide and seek with herself also ended. Finally the respect of being a harbinger is waiting for her.

She got dignity, reputation and recognition.

-------------------------------------------------

3. Exercises /Questions Answers 

Understanding the text

Answer the following questions:

Question a. Why did the speaker try to be the way men wanted her to be ?

Answer : She tried to be the way men wanted her to be because she was a woman belonging to a patriarchal society (relating to a society controlled by men). She had no other options. Initially she thought it to be comfortable to do so. 

Question b. What do you understand by her feet 'would not accept walking backwards' ?

Answer : Here this phrase means once she rebelled and set her feet on the path of liberation, she was not ready to return back to the situation she had departed from.

In simple words, she not ready to follow the traditional norms for women determined by the so called self proclaimed custodians of society.

Question c. Who are the old guards ?

Answer : The 'old guards' are the so called self appointed custodians (guards) of society. They were desperate because the speaker had rebelled against the age old social norms which denied any rights of women.

Question d. How did the speaker have 'a feeling of intimate liberation' ?

Answer : She had such feeling when she listened to the voice coming from her within (from her soul), and acted according to it. This is when she kissed the new path of liberation.

Question e. Why did the speaker's desire to follow men warp in her ?

Answer : Her desire to follow men warped (twisted) in her when she felt she was announced to be the harbinger of women's liberation.

Reference to the context

Question a. What does the speaker mean when she says she was playing a game of hide and seek with her being ?

Answer : The simple meaning of this phrase is that while following the conventional rules, in some corner of her heart she used to feel her talents, abilities, and aspirations. Although she felt an inner urge (a strong desire) to translate such qualities into reality, her hands were in chains.

Question b. Why, in your view, was her back ripped by the old guards as she was advancing forward?

Answer : As she was advancing forward on her way, the so called self appointed guardians of the society were both angry and intolerant .

If she did it today, others would do the same tomorrow. 

So, in their desperation they attacked and criticized her badly, and that is ripping her back.

Question c. What, according to the speaker, did it feel like to be free ?

Answer : She had a feeling of intimate liberation. Now she was not of this or that place, now she was like a flower which can blossom in every land (her presence not limited). Her presence was not narrowed by the old guards.

Question d. Why does the speaker prefer the present to the past?

Answer : She prefers present to the past because in her past she was in chaos at every step. Her steps were determined by the old traditions of the society. She wasn't free.

Whereas in the present she had an open sky and was free to follow her will.

Question e. John Donne, in his poem "No man is an island", says, "No man is an island entire of itself". Would Burgos agree with Donne? Do you agree with Donne or Burgos ?

Answer : Here John Donne is talking about connectedness of people. Donne's saying gives the message of togetherness and the need of living in society.

As we read the present poem, we find she is not alienating herself from the society, nor her route takes her away from the society she lives in. 

She only explores new ways and a new destination, where she (women) enjoy an equal footing with men. They won't be dominated by men.

She is not breaking connectedness with society. She only defies the age worn rules, she is not detaching from the society.  She is only working as a harbinger of establishing a new epoch.

Thus the speaker is not away from what Donne says. So there is no question of choosing either Donne's or Burgos's ideas.

Reference beyond the text

Question a. Write an essay on My Idea of Freedom.

Answer :

'My Idea of Freedom'

Freedom is the right to live the life you choose without any restrictions or limitations. It is being able to do whatever you want without having to answer anyone.

It is right to speak your mind, follow your dreams, and make your own choices without fear or prejudice.

Freedom comes with a sense of responsibility too. Its not an anarchy (lawlessness). We should remember that 'Your right ends, when the rights of other's begin'.

 So we must use our freedom wisely and responsibly, respecting the rights of others. Enjoying freedom doesn't mean that we disregard the rights of others and live the way we feel right.

Freedom is not an absolute right. It has some constraints. A freedom that poses (brings) threats to a society. One can not kill people, violate laws, smuggling, or doing anything that harms society and country.

Question b. Not all people, however, seems to agree with the kind of freedom upheld by Burgos in this poem. For example, William Faulkner, in his novel Requiem for a Nun says, "The past is never dead. So its not even past. All of us labor in webs spun long before we were born, webs of heredity and environment, of desire and consequence, of history and eternity." Do you agree with Faulkner? Why? Why not?

Answer : 

Yes, but I only partially agree with William Faulkner. There is no doubt that the past is never dead. Personal, social, political , or in other forms, past always remains there. Neither we can erase our past, nor we can forget it. 

We have heritage, we have history, we have memories, and all these are different forms of past. Even in our living bodies we have hereditary factors, which has been transferred to us from the past. 

It's not only that we can't wipe out  past, sometimes past helps us also in taking better decisions for tomorrow. 

But that doesn't mean that our past should act as chains in our feet. We should not be arrested in the past. 

_________________________________________________