Myth By Natasha Trethewey

Punctuation in Natasha Trethewey’s “Myth” What’s the difference between a period and comma? When reading aloud, one might take a breath at a comma, and take a slightly longer pause at a period. But really, who cares about distinguishing a small speck and a slightly elongated speck on a page? In Natasha Trethewey’s “Myth,” however, you’ll find that the almost exhaustive list of substitutions she makes in the second part of the poem makes it read completely differently than the first – which is surprising, as the poem, in essence, is structured as a palindrome! Other than take up more space on a blank page, punctuation can change the tone and emotion of a sentence. Not convinced? Take a look at the first substitution in the first line of the fourth stanza. A colon appears instead of a period after “again and again, this constant forsaking.” A period, as we know, …show more content…
But there’s more! Punctuation can serve to add interjections into the poem. Let’s look at what might be the most prominent insertion of punctuation in the third line of the fifth stanza, where two dashes sandwich the words “still, trying.” By inserting this little interjection in the phrase “the Erebus I keep you in…/I make between my slumber and my waking,” the speaker points out that she’s been attempting to keep her mother’s spirit in this little pocket of darkness, but so far, the spirt has resisted. The “still, trying” emphasizes the narrator’s determination to reach her goal. Without putting the words “still, trying” as an interjection, as seen in the first part of the poem, the line reads “the Erebus I keep you in, and still trying/ not to let go.” This, in turn, gives a sense that the speaker has successfully trapped her mother’s spirit, but now that the speaker’s having second thoughts, she’s attempting to dissuade herself from setting the spirit