"Late Fragment" by Raymond Carver
And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.
“Late Fragment” is the last poem in the last book that Raymond Carver ever published before losing his battle to cancer at the age of 50. The single verse poem only spans a quarter of a page, with short lines and simple free-verse structure. Carver uses rhetoric to directly reflect the content of the poem: a contemplative assessment in his own life, and coming to terms with his imminent death.
Raymond Carver was an American short story writer and poet who wrote about the seemingly insignificant lives of blue-collar workers. Carver struggled with poverty, alcoholism, a broken marriage, and eventually cancer. In his last book, A New Path to the Waterfall, Carver reflects on his life, as it sadly comes to an end. In his final poem "Late Fragment", Carver asks himself if he has fulfilled his ultimate goal in life--"to feel beloved"--and he answers that he has. However, the poem extends beyond the literal meaning of the poem; the architecture, the genre features, and the diction mimic the struggle which he endured, and his ultimate contentment with his situation.
Although Carver was a minimalist, this poem is one of his shortest, perhaps mirroring his short life coming to an end, thus being logically placed as the last poem in his last book. The title “Late Fragment” itself suggests that it is only part of a whole, and that it was tacked on later. This idea of a fragment (of a sentence and/or of a life) continues throughout his poem. For example, he begins the first and fourth lines with the conjunction “And”, which is typically the sign of an informal fragment of a sentence. His last line is also a pair of two dependent clauses: “To call myself beloved, to feel myself/ beloved on the earth.” The usage of fragments makes it seem as though the reader entered in the end of a conversation, and these were the last bits of dialogue. Therefore, the fragments, instead of serving as a cliffhanger, serve as an ironic completion of a story. His usage of fragments, especially within the last lines, show that his life was not as complete as a properly-constructed sentence, and instead merely a fragment of a life.
Carver also uses a dialogic form for his poem, which deepens its meaning and poignancy. He breaks the poem into four sentences in a pattern of question-statement-question-statement. It is unclear who is inquiring in the poem, but we can assume that the declarative statements, at least, belong to Carver. The questions may belong to a variety of sources: Carver, a loved one, a stranger, or even a higher being. No matter the source of the questions, the dialogic structure still suggests a reflective proclamation by Carver. In response to the question “And did you get what/ you wanted from this life, even so?” Carver responds, “I did.” Again, after the question “And what did you want?” he responds, “To call myself beloved, to feel myself/ beloved on the earth.” Therefore, although the responses are short and fragmented, he is still making very definitive statements, and revealing an unwavering satisfaction with his life thus far.
Finally, the diction that Carver uses within the poem further mimics the qualitative assessment of his short life. For example, Carver writes, “And did you get what/ you wanted from this life, even so?” His usage of the phrase “even so” suggests that the inquirer qualifies his life as falling short of success or falling short of completion. His short and absolute response, “I did.”, however, shows that Carver disagrees with this negative sentiment. His diction then moves from simple language in the first four lines to more nuanced language in the last two lines, perhaps mimicking the movement from the physical desires to the surreal as death approaches. He states, “To call myself beloved, to feel myself/ beloved on the earth.” Rather than simply stating “to love and be loved”, Carver repeated the word “beloved”, which suggests something more unique and precious than any other type of love. Therefore, he is asserting himself as something worth loving, and something capable of loving in the same manner. The parallelism of the line “to call myself beloved, to feel myself/ beloved” also shows that, at last, Carver truly believes (“feel[s]”) the things he says (“call[s]”), which is the ultimate self-actualization experience.
This poem, which takes up only a quarter of an otherwise stark white page in his final book, is now engraved Carver’s tombstone. It is a statement of his serenity, and a justification for his contentedness with whatever life he lived, no matter if it was cut short, according to the average life expectancy. The idea that this poem was an afterthought or a reflection added on later is successfully revealed through not only the content of the poem, but also of the architecture and diction of the poem. Therefore, this poem works as a perfect fragmented closing note to both his book and his life.
And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.
“Late Fragment” is the last poem in the last book that Raymond Carver ever published before losing his battle to cancer at the age of 50. The single verse poem only spans a quarter of a page, with short lines and simple free-verse structure. Carver uses rhetoric to directly reflect the content of the poem: a contemplative assessment in his own life, and coming to terms with his imminent death.
Raymond Carver was an American short story writer and poet who wrote about the seemingly insignificant lives of blue-collar workers. Carver struggled with poverty, alcoholism, a broken marriage, and eventually cancer. In his last book, A New Path to the Waterfall, Carver reflects on his life, as it sadly comes to an end. In his final poem "Late Fragment", Carver asks himself if he has fulfilled his ultimate goal in life--"to feel beloved"--and he answers that he has. However, the poem extends beyond the literal meaning of the poem; the architecture, the genre features, and the diction mimic the struggle which he endured, and his ultimate contentment with his situation.
Although Carver was a minimalist, this poem is one of his shortest, perhaps mirroring his short life coming to an end, thus being logically placed as the last poem in his last book. The title “Late Fragment” itself suggests that it is only part of a whole, and that it was tacked on later. This idea of a fragment (of a sentence and/or of a life) continues throughout his poem. For example, he begins the first and fourth lines with the conjunction “And”, which is typically the sign of an informal fragment of a sentence. His last line is also a pair of two dependent clauses: “To call myself beloved, to feel myself/ beloved on the earth.” The usage of fragments makes it seem as though the reader entered in the end of a conversation, and these were the last bits of dialogue. Therefore, the fragments, instead of serving as a cliffhanger, serve as an ironic completion of a story. His usage of fragments, especially within the last lines, show that his life was not as complete as a properly-constructed sentence, and instead merely a fragment of a life.
Carver also uses a dialogic form for his poem, which deepens its meaning and poignancy. He breaks the poem into four sentences in a pattern of question-statement-question-statement. It is unclear who is inquiring in the poem, but we can assume that the declarative statements, at least, belong to Carver. The questions may belong to a variety of sources: Carver, a loved one, a stranger, or even a higher being. No matter the source of the questions, the dialogic structure still suggests a reflective proclamation by Carver. In response to the question “And did you get what/ you wanted from this life, even so?” Carver responds, “I did.” Again, after the question “And what did you want?” he responds, “To call myself beloved, to feel myself/ beloved on the earth.” Therefore, although the responses are short and fragmented, he is still making very definitive statements, and revealing an unwavering satisfaction with his life thus far.
Finally, the diction that Carver uses within the poem further mimics the qualitative assessment of his short life. For example, Carver writes, “And did you get what/ you wanted from this life, even so?” His usage of the phrase “even so” suggests that the inquirer qualifies his life as falling short of success or falling short of completion. His short and absolute response, “I did.”, however, shows that Carver disagrees with this negative sentiment. His diction then moves from simple language in the first four lines to more nuanced language in the last two lines, perhaps mimicking the movement from the physical desires to the surreal as death approaches. He states, “To call myself beloved, to feel myself/ beloved on the earth.” Rather than simply stating “to love and be loved”, Carver repeated the word “beloved”, which suggests something more unique and precious than any other type of love. Therefore, he is asserting himself as something worth loving, and something capable of loving in the same manner. The parallelism of the line “to call myself beloved, to feel myself/ beloved” also shows that, at last, Carver truly believes (“feel[s]”) the things he says (“call[s]”), which is the ultimate self-actualization experience.
This poem, which takes up only a quarter of an otherwise stark white page in his final book, is now engraved Carver’s tombstone. It is a statement of his serenity, and a justification for his contentedness with whatever life he lived, no matter if it was cut short, according to the average life expectancy. The idea that this poem was an afterthought or a reflection added on later is successfully revealed through not only the content of the poem, but also of the architecture and diction of the poem. Therefore, this poem works as a perfect fragmented closing note to both his book and his life.