15 pages • 30 minutes read
Otherwise
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Themes
Appreciation of the Present Moment
One of the key thematic concerns of “Otherwise” relates to the appreciation of the present moment despite the inevitability of death. Because “one day [. . .] it will be otherwise” (Lines 25-26), the speaker finds it essential to be grateful for every passing beauty. The poem lists the best parts of the speaker’s day, no matter how commonplace: The milk is “sweet” (Line 5), the peach “ripe” (Line 6), and the woods are made of “birch” (Line 10). The speaker communes with their loved ones as the speaker experiences the present world, tallying what is beautiful in their surroundings despite the grief and death they “know” (Line 25) will occur. Eventually all the images the speaker collects hang together, like the “paintings / on the walls” of their bedroom (Line 21-22), offering a comforting retrospective against the coming end.
Routine and Disruption
“Otherwise” is a poem about taking nothing for granted in life. From personal experience, the poet knows that accident, disease, and death can disrupt the routines of daily life, and Kenyon’s poem comments on the inevitability of a surprising turn toward the worse. The status quo of the speaker’s life—rising, eating, working, sleeping—cannot carry on without the interfering thought that it “might have been otherwise” (refrain). These reminders fall to the side as the speaker moves through their day, and at one point, the “otherwise” refrain changes the notion of what “might have been” (Lines 3, 7-8, 14-15, 18-19) to “will be” (Line 26) by the end of the poem. It stops being a temporary threat and becomes a known quantity. The speaker’s realization comes at night, in bed, a place that marks the end of their daily routine and there is nothing to distract their focus. The speaker does not delineate the accident, disease, or death they specifically fear except to note its certainty. The not-knowing that characterizes this acceptance of a final disruption is what makes the poem rich and poignant.
Melancholy
In the first stanza of “Otherwise,” the speaker takes their dog “uphill / to the birch wood” (9-10). The precision of the word “uphill” is significant as it suggests that this walk will take more energy than a walk downhill or on flat ground. This metaphorically clues the reader in to the idea that life itself is sometimes “uphill” (Line 9). The knowledge of Kenyon’s biography provides the reader with an awareness that the speaker may be worried that something might disrupt their happy domestic life; they must fight to ward off the melancholy thought of “it might have been / otherwise” (Lines 3-4). When melancholy interferes with daily routines, some may find it difficult to “[plan] another day” (Line 23) especially when it might be “just like this day” (Line 24). However, the possibility that “one day” it will permanently be “otherwise” may cause a shift in attitude. The speaker realizes that “strong legs” (Lines 2), “sweet / milk” (Line 5-6), taking “the dog uphill” (Line 9) will someday disappear. The seeming finality of the last lines may be read as a call to hope, a diminishing of the haunting melancholy thought of the “otherwise” refrain.
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