Notes for "[I, being born a woman and distressed]"

1. "I, being born a woman and distressed":
Note the assertive beginning, indicating a narrator with an independent spirit. Look at the rhythm of the line, and account for the disruption of the metric pattern.

Born a woman: She has no choice either of gender or of the burdens associated with being female. Perhaps she is thinking of Byron's statement: "Man's love is of man's life a thing apart, 'Tis woman's whole existence --"

2. "By all the needs and notions of my kind,":
What kinds of "needs and notions" are associated with women that she might be referring to?

3. "Am urged by your propinquity to find":
This urge is a force (sexual) that she has little control of.

Propinquity: Why does she use such a formal term? [nearness of proximity, closeness]

4. "Your person fair, and feel a certain zest":
Fair: Physically attractive. Again, note the formality of "person" (body?).

Zest: Pleasure, appetite, excitement.

5. "To bear your body's weight upon my breast:":
Although "bear your body's weight" is clearly a sexual reference, it also suggests submissiveness and assumption of a burden.

Is this a maternal allusion?

6. "So subtly is the fume of life designed,":
"Fume"—which can mean anger or a noxious gas—seems to denote passion, desire. Why doesn't she choose "fire" or "flame" instead?

Who is responsible for this perplexing design?

7. "To clarify the pulse and cloud the mind,":
Note the opposition between mind and body here. Does she resolve this conflict?

8. "And leave me once again undone, possessed.":
Once again: "Been there, done that." There's a pattern of struggle here, perhaps in her own experience and that of many other women.

Possessed: Owned, controlled by another; not responsible for one's self. Is control more important than love here?

9. "Think not for this, however, the poor treason":
Is she commiting treason to herself? Is she a traitor to her own emotions?

10. "Of my stout blood against my staggering brain,":
How do "stout" and "staggering" add to the drama of the conflict between body and mind?

11. "I shall remember you with love, or season":
Season: This is a verb [to flavor, as with salt or spices], not a time of year.

12. "My scorn with pity,—let me make it plain:":
Note the authoritative change in tone of voice.

13. "I find this frenzy insufficient reason":
What "frenzy" is she talking about? Does this word strike you as adequate for the conflict she has been describing?