"Beginning Again" Poetry Blog.

Beginning Again
"If I could stop talking, completely
cease talking for a year, I might begin
to get well," he muttered.
Of alone again performing
brain surgery on himself
in a small badly lit
room with no mirror. A room
whose floor ceiling and walls
are all mirrors, what a mess
oh my God-

And still
it stands,
the question
not how to begin
again, but rather

Why?

So we sit there
together
the mountain
and me, Li Po
said, until only the mountain
remains.
-Franz Wright

Antecedent Scenario- Before writing this poem, Franz Wright was probably thinking about new beginnings and why people feel the need to start over again. Maybe he felt like he needed his own fresh start, but questioned why.
The Climax- The climax of this poem seems to be when he says, "Why?" Here he gets to the point: that it isn't about how to begin again, but why we should do it in the first place. It is structurally significant as well; he puts the single worded question by itself for impact.
Tone- The tone of "Beginning Again" was a mixture of exasperation, bitterness, contemplation, and sarcastic. The words "muttered," "brain surgery," "oh my God," and "Why," led me to the conclusion that, in regards to beginning again, Franz Wright's poem had those tones in it.Meaning- This poem is all about how to begin again- to start over. It says that to do so, one must stop talking, look into one's own mind ("brain surgery") in a place without distractions, but with mirrors everywhere to see and criticize oneself. It asks, "What's the point?" Why should we sit there trying to create a new beginning for ourselves as things change around us?