"At the Hospital," by David Ferry

"At the Hospital," by David Ferry

David Ferry was born in 1924 in Orange, New Jersey. After his freshmen year attending Amherst College, he entered the Air Force, only to later complete his degree in 1948. He went on to earn a graduate degree at Harvard University, where he began writing poetry. His translations of texts, such as The Odes of Horace, and both The Eclogues and Georgics of Virgil, are known for their fluency and grace. Additionally, he has earned many awards for his poetry,  and in 1998 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  (information from the Poetry Foundation)

She was the sentence the cancer spoke at last,

Its blurred grammar finally clarified.

Life can end at an instant. In “At the Hospital,” Ferry emphasizes the transience of life and reminds us of our own mortality. The poem is short, in total only amounting to two lines comprised of a single sentence. However, it is this abruptness and brevity that the meaning and effectiveness of the poem relies on.  With the title, we expect to hear a story of healing occurring at the present moment. Instead, we are presented with the clinical reflection of a woman who has died of cancer. The poem begins with a generic, “she.” This both allows the readers to feel detached to the unknown character and connected by its universal application to our own lives. The briefness of the poem gives the single metaphor within it even more power. The “she” in the poem is said to be the “sentence the cancer spoke.” This precise wording gives the cancer power over the woman; it has been personified, becoming more than just a disease. This gives the readers a glimpse into how an illness can completely change or take over a person’s life. Despite the emphasized brevity however, the first line ends with the words, “at last,” implying that the road to the end of the sentence was a long journey of suffering. The metaphor continues into the second line, stating “Its blurred grammar finally clarified;” the “blurred grammar” representing the uncertainty of her future condition, and “finally clarified “representing the ultimate end of her life. The way in which this tragic end is discussed, while strangely cold and uncaring, provokes strong emotions and a feeling of sadness within the readers. We recognize that our own lives are just sentences, and that we should value each word we have the privilege to write.