Jan 16 2023
Jane Hirshfield – The Task
The Task
by Jane Hirshfield
It is a simple garment, this slipped-on world.
We wake into it daily — open eyes, braid hair —
a robe unfurled
in rose-silk flowering, then laid bare.
And yes, it is a simple enough task
we’ve taken on,
though also vast:
from dusk to dawn,
from dawn to dusk, to praise, and not
be blinded by the praising.
To lie like a cat in hot
sun, fur fully blazing,
and dream the mouse;
and to keep too the mouse’s patient, waking watch
within the deep rooms of the house,
where the leaf-flocked
sunlight never reaches, but the earth still blooms.
— from The October Palace: Poems, by Jane Hirshfield
/ Image by Kinga Cichewicz /
I just recently rediscovered this poem by Jane Hirshfield.
Some of her phrases grab hold of you–
It is a simple garment, this slipped-on world.
And–
And yes, it is a simple enough task
we’ve taken on,
though also vast
This poem seems to me to be an exploration of the way we awaken each morning to the day, and to the world. It’s a simple enough action; we do it every day, day after day, seemingly without effort or thought. Yet, it is also an immense undertaking each morning: We emerge from a land of rest and sleep and the fluid reality of dreams, we stretch, and rise into the immense reality of the shared tangible world. We step from one immense reality and step into a new immense reality. Simple, right?
What is she suggesting with her imagery of cat and mouse? This is just my reading of it, but knowing Jane Hirshfield to be a Buddhist practitioner, I suspect she is saying something about meditation and mind. Perhaps the meditator’s mind is like the cat; it must come to rest within the luminosity of consciousness. Then perhaps it can dream the mouse.
And the mouse is that hidden, hard-to-find deep mind, nestled safely in the secret corners of the house. The sunlight of daily consciousness may not reach there, but still awareness sees, and life blooms.
What do you think? Do you read it a different way?
Recommended Books: Jane Hirshfield
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| Women in Praise of the Sacred: 43 Centuries of Spiritual Poetry by Women | Given Sugar, Given Salt: Poems | The Lives of the Heart: Poems | The October Palace: Poems | Of Gravity & Angels |
| More Books >> | ||||
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Jane Hirshfield
US (Contemporary) |
Blessings to you and your wife. Sending my love. Rosaline Christensen, victoria, b.c.
Hi Ivan.Thank you for all you do to keep beautiful poetry alive.Thank you as well for sharing your situation with your wife’s health.
Please do not worry about the frequency of your emails.I understand your priority is your secure job ,and your wife’s health.I will treasure your poetry always.
All the best … Isabel
Dear Ivan,
I am sorry to hear about your wife’s illness. Hope and pray she is recovering well and healing. Godspeed to her getting back to good health.
Thank you for explaining the deep meaning of Jane’s poem. I enjoyed it as a simple poem…and loved the metaphor – “the simple garment of this slipped on world”.
Yes you are right she is talking about meditative yet mindful living…stepping into new vast realities, yet being in our corner like a cat, still and silent…while the sun blooms. Yes she is definitely talking about enlightenment happening naturally deep within.
Your thought for the day tiny poem also is so beautiful.
I am really sorry that I am not in a position to contribute financially, being an old woman living in the far southern corner of India, usefully unemployed…but my love, wishes and prayers are always with you and Poetry Chaikhana.
Santhi
Thank You Ivan for this poem – ‘Task’ – a beautiful poem, and I liked your way of reading it. Michele has been in my thoughts, and back in my nursing years, I believed patients
with breathing problems were harder to help than patients with pain. So I hope her
acute episodes will subside. Several years ago I adopted the maxim ‘Less is More’
so if Poetry Chaikhana posts are Less, they undoubtedly will be ‘More’.
Thank you for all the gifts through the years! Carol