Now, when he and I meet, after all these years,
I say to the bitch inside me, don’t start growling.
He isn’t a trespasser anymore,
Just an old acquaintance tipping his hat.
My voice says, “Nice to see you,”
As the bitch starts to bark hysterically.
He isn’t an enemy now,
Where are your manners, I say, as I say,
“How are the children? They must be growing up.”
At a kind word from him, a look like the old days,
The bitch changes her tone; she begins to whimper.
She wants to snuggle up to him, to cringe.
Down, girl! Keep your distance
Or I’ll give you a taste of the choke-chain.
“Fine, I’m just fine,” I tell him.
She slobbers and grovels.
After all, I am her mistress. She is basically loyal.
It’s just that she remembers how she came running
Each evening, when she heard his step;
How she lay at his feet and looked up adoringly
Though he was absorbed in his paper;
Or, bored with her devotion, ordered her to the kitchen
Until he was ready to play.
But the small careless kindnesses
When he’d had a good day, or a couple of drinks,
Come back to her now, seem more important
Than the casual cruelties, the ultimate dismissal.
“It’s nice to know you are doing so well,” I say.
He couldn’t have taken you with him;
You were too demonstrative, too clumsy,
Not like the well-groomed pets of his new friends.
“Give my regards to your wife,” I say. You gag
As I drag you off by the scruff,
Saying, “Goodbye! Goodbye! Nice to have seen you again.”
Summary: The poem "Bitch" by Carolyn Kizer is about a female running into a past lover after many years. Upon talking to him she gets a glimpse of the past. The once raging animal inside her has soften up.(line1-5) As she begins to reminisce about the past she realizes its something which cant happen again.(line 6-12) She then begins to tell the bitch inside her to calm down. She remembers how she would be treated by him. She would wait on hand and foot.(line 13-22) While he treated her as an animal using her only when he desired. (line 23-24) She over looked all the bad and thought about the few good things he did do.(line 25-27) She then try's to convince the bitch inside her that it wouldn't have worked just because of the past problems.(line 28-30) She realizes she wouldn't fit well in his world because shes not like him or the people around him.(line 31-34)
The speaker of the poem is a woman who is fighting a emotion in herself called the "bitch" and her outer emotion while being confronted by a past lover. The poem is intended for people who haven't been valued in a previous relationship.
Tone: The speakers tone/attitude towards the subject is angry, nostalgic and disappointed.
Figurative Language The images in the poem are similes because she compares herself and the bitch/female dog inside of her.
Key Words
1.I say to the bitch inside me, don't start growling.
2. As the bitch starts to bark hysterically.
3. The bitch changes her tone; she begins to whimper.
4. Down, girl! Keep your distance
5. She slobbers and grovels
6. She remember show she came running each evening, when she heard his step;
7. He couldn't have taken you with him
8. Not like the well groomed pets of his new friends.
The general subject of the poem is a women hurt by prior ex love.
