Research Paper

Jack Gilbert

Read the Biography

Trying to Sleep [2005]

The girl shepherd on the farm beyond has been taken from school now she is twelve, and her life is over. I got my genius brother a summer job in the mills and he stayed all his life. I lived with a woman four 5years who went crazy later, escaped from the hospital, hitchhiked across America terrified and in the snow without a coat, and was raped by most men who gave her a ride. I crank my heart even so and it turns over. Ranges high in the sun over continents and eruptions 10of mortality, through winds and immensities of rain falling for miles. Until all the world is overcome by what goes up and up in us, singing and dancing and throwing down flowers as we continue north taking the maimed with us, keeping the sad parts carefully.

JOURNAL: Jack Gilbert, “Trying to Sleep”

[Instructions] In the space provided, respond to one of the following prompts: Gilbert lists examples of events that should be very discouraging, if not depressing, to anyone. However, he tell us, “I crank my heart even so and it turns over.” What idea is he expressing through this metaphorical language? What does Gilbert mean by “crank” and “turn over”? In a single sentence, state a claim the poet seems to be making about the human spirit. What are your thoughts about this perspective?