Eye Mask By Denise Levertov Analysis

Stuck in Your Mind, Stuck in Your Ways Denise Levertov’s “Eye Mask” describes the mechanisms in which an Eye Mask is used to assist life’s cycles of growth and identity. In this poem, the speaker represents the “dark” as an entity that will assist in her growth, instead of the light (10). This idea contradicts the connotation of darkness, as the word “dark” normally suggests growth being hindered, feelings of being alone, or even going through difficult times. The normal conventions of growth are challenged in this poem, with the use of the Eye Mask as something that both assists and hinders the speaker’s growth and identity. In the poem, the speaker mentions the dark as if it is a progressive entity, meanwhile it actually limits her progression.

Line two mentions “unready for the light which dawns”, revealing that she is not yet ready for the progressive stage that is to come with exposure to light (2). The word “light” suggests growth, brightness, enlightenment, and revealing one’s true self. Light allows for transformative growth, and the speaker is not yet ready for this change. The speaker has an inkling that the light will bring about change because she states that she is “unready for the light”, showing that she understands what is to happen once she steps into the light. The eye mask counters the light through its covering. In doing so, the speaker uses the eye mask to enable what she believes to be her growth. The darkness that comes from this eye mask, though, actually hinders the speaker’s growth in which she is unware of because of the eye mask’s literal and figurative covering. Viewing light as an entity that evokes newness, the eye mask can be seen as something that prevents the speaker from revealing her true self to the world. In this case of not revealing her true self, the darkness is actually hindering her growth and the light is the process by which her true growth will be