What I Did Wrong Poem Summary

Remorseful Interpretations

The poems that will be compared to one another throughout this paper include, “What I Did Wrong” by Marie Howe, and “Poem of Regret for an Old Friend”, by Meghan O’Rourke. Each have very similar topics that are being discussed by the authors : including feelings of regret, anger, and an overall longing to have done more throughout life but they have very different tones associated with it. In addition to this, Howe’s poem has a much more violent tone than O’Rourke’s and it hints at abusive gestures and a very difficult life that also deals with looking back at the person’s life through memories. O’Rourke’s poem focuses most on the aspect of regret. The poem seems to be reliving old memories with someone that is significant to their life and how the only way to escape from the reality of their own personal life with this person is through dreaming. These poems express the regrets and choices they have made that impacted their life. “What I Did Wrong” first begins very aggressively with the statement “Slapped the man’s face, then slapped it again, broke the plate, broke the glass, pushed the cat from the couch with my feet.” This completely sets a violent tone for the rest of the poem and it continues on until …show more content…
Although they each have these dark feelings associated with them, they are portrayed in very different ways. As previously stated, “What I Did Wrong” is very up front and in your face about a lot of abusive events that previously occurred. Whereas “Poem of Regret for an Old Friend” is much more laid back and recalling memories in a very sorrow filled way. Even though these poems have different ways of approaching the idea of what is going on, they both leave you wondering at the end of the poem by either asking a question like in “What I Did Wrong”, or they leave you with a dark meaning like in “Poem of Regret for an Old