Nineteen

Sexual awakening is a key theme in the poem, but by placing it in the context of a relationship with a skewed power dynamic, the poet explores the complex interaction between power and sex. It is established early on that the speaker’s lover is “an older man / who didn’t tell me he was married” (Lines 3-4). These facts are followed straight by the phrase, “I was a baby, drinking rum and coke” (Line 4). Thus, the man’s age and marital status are juxtaposed with the speaker’s youth; she is the baby in the relationship. This itself tilts the relationship in the favor of the older man; weighing his advantage further is the fact that he keeps crucial information—such as his marriage—from the speaker. By being the holder of secret knowledge, the lover destabilizes the speaker. He alludes to his experience with women when he tells the speaker that the ladies “love” (Line 10) his hair. The speaker feels undermined by this reveal, a fact that can be inferred from the description of her answering smile as foolish. Further, it is suggested that he initiated the relationship with the speaker when he asked to “steal” (Line 17) a kiss from her “the first thick night in the field” (Line 17).