Sign Inventory, Week 7

In Response to a Rumor That the Oldest Whorehouse in Wheeling, West Virginia, Has Been Condemned
I will grieve alone,
As I strolled alone, years ago, down along
The Ohio shore.
I hid in the hobo jungle weeds
Upstream from the sewer main,
Pondering, gazing.

I saw, down river,
At Twenty-third and Water Streets
By the vinegar works,
The doors open in early evening.
Swinging their purses, the women
Poured down the long street to the river
And into the river.

I do not know how it was
They could drown every evening.
What time near dawn did they climb up the other shore,
Drying their wings?

For the river at Wheeling, West Virginia,
Has only two shores:
The one in hell, the other
In Bridgeport, Ohio.

And nobody would commit suicide, only
To find beyond death
Bridgeport, Ohio.

James Wright

*It's an interesting idea that one man would grive alone for a whorehouse as stated in line 1.

*Quickly the poem moves into a flashback to an earlier time.

*Equating sex with drowning could be further studied.

*There is a representation of duality as the "women" climb up the other shore after they leave.

*There are only reference to people that are not postive members of society, prostitues and hobos as examples.

*The fact that the two shores are hell and Bridgeport, Ohio is interesting, because neither seems that appealing.

*The use of death and hell in relation to living is striking.

*The speaker is always looking on the scene, but is never a active member of the narrative.

*Women are the only people singled out. The hobo's are hiding in the weeds, while factory workers are never really named.

*The title stands out, because the whorehouse is only closing as a rumor.