In Class Essay -- Red Shift

In the poem Red Shift by Ted Berrigan suggests that the change of emotions to show the society has been become different effects in fact. According the title Red Shift, there is one of definition is that it happens when light seen coming from an object is proportionally shift to appear more red. And otherwise, red is a symbol to label love, blood and anger. It means the emotions of people or the whole community will be disappearing without any lights coming.

From the beginning of poem “The air is biting, February” and the middle “eyes penetrating the winter twilight at 6^th & Bowery in 1961”, it shows the setting of poem that is at the middle of 20^th century in New York, America. At that time, the Great Depression impacted the whole American’s life. Many people were unemployment, and New York stayed at the conditions of high crime rates and low-income family. Berrigan set up the winter in New York as background to show that he was no any hot emotions for this society. In the quote “the streets look for Allen, Frank, or me. Allen is a movie, Frank disappearing in the air”, Allen and Frank are his friends, but Berrigan said they have no been appearing. He may doesn’t mean that they die. In fact, he thinks the real of Allen and Frank have changed by society, and they are not the same mind with before any more. “To breathe &who will never leave me, nor for sex, nor politics, nor even for stupid permanent estrangement” shows that he feels very lonely because there is no one can know he think and has same mind with him. He looks very sad and less hope. He also talks about the song “California Song” which sings the cold man was longing the warmth of California. “But no, I won’t do that I am 43, when I will die? I will never die” shows Berrigan want that people have no only longing , but also make the acts to change the situation which were they have. He doesn’t want to give up and he is strange to face that sadness. That is the society of less hope, less love and more anger in America. His mind is that it can change, but no with himself, and it should do with whole society.