“Circe, After His Departure” by Lisa Sewell: An Analysis
By: Vani S.
Tags: English Literature, Academia, Literature, The Odyssey, Rhetorical Analysis

In the poem “Circe, After His Departure,” Lisa Sewell narrates Circe’s emotional anguish following the departure of her former lover, detailing Circe’s recollection of their acquaintance using particularly nuanced sexual imagery. Circe’s emphatic depiction of their mutually carnal desire juxtaposes against her silent desire for a truer commitment from her partner. On the other hand, her sexual reminiscence denies her partner personhood through her objective, detached description of his identity being exclusively characterized by his desire for her in moments of physical pleasure. As a result, Circe’s grief manifests into a greater subliminal void marking her desire to feel coveted by another. Circe’s crude, primitive portrayal of sex serves to deepen her longing to be desired, as her partner functions as a visual and tactical symbol of this desire, and Circe conveys that she can survive only when she becomes a necessity for survivial to a partner.

Circe’s recollection of their relationship begins by an immediate disconnection between her desire for love versus her desire for this particular partner. She uses simile to compare this man to “desire, or the marker for desire;” the clarification that he is a “marker for” rather than simply “desire” suggests that Circe’s concern is not directed toward deriving a knowledge of his own desire, but instead that he is a “marker,” or a symbol of Circe’s desire that she must achieve, separating the man from her reaction to his departure. Acting as a “marker,” he is much more than an infatuating lover; he is a symbol of Circe’s own desire by acting as the agent that awakens it and unravels Circe’s obsession with claiming his significance. Circe follows this simile by adding that he is the marker that “eludes her grasp in order to keep himself perpetually in motion.” Circe’s use of diction such as “eludes her grasp” implies that she feels a sense of personal defeat, and that her failed “grasp” or ownership of him undermines her desire to feel reciprocated love. In addition, the characterization that her partner keeps “himself perpetually in motion” confirms his deliberate avoidance of commitment, and Circe further establishes that her source of internal conflict originates in her own failure to convert this man’s “perpetual” dedication to departure. At this point in the poem, however, while Circe establishes that her partner is merely a symbolic vessel of her desire and that she desires not him in particular but his symbolic representation of her desire, it is when Circe begins to elaborate that “it’s much more specific than that” that she distinguishes desire for love from her true desire to be desired.

The unknowing manner in which Circe recounts the subtleties of the man’s visual and tactical display of desire depicts her subtle and psychological objective to satiate an underlying yet powerful longing to be desired. For instance, she reminisces when “he held her jaw…animal yearning that crossed his face when she asked him to.” The diction used in her description indicates an imbalance of perception, where the shared moment is perceived exclusively from Circe’s point of view. The “animal yearning” is then specified as having “crossed his face,” a visual observation perceived by Circe rather than being described as an “animal yearning” that he may have “felt.” Since the narrator recites in a third person point of view, it is unclear whether Circe’s partner did feel an “animal yearning;” or, it is simply unimportant to the narrator’s purpose in characterizing Circe. The visual characterization of his yearning implies that Circe particularly enjoyed being able to see his desire for her, as her most memorable recollection of their acquaintance serves as momentary proof of gratification of her desire. The line “when she asked him to” establishes the prominence of her subliminal desire within the interaction by indicating that Circe “asked him” to desire her, or to initiate proof of his desire for her, further asserting that her longing to be desired by another — signified by her request — takes precedent in their interaction. Her specific attention toward this fulfillment of her request is cemented by the fact that she recounts his “animal yearning” and his willing answer to her request more fondly than the kiss itself, again indicating that subliminal gratification of wanting to be desired entirely governs both the emotional and physical aspects of her pleasure. Additionally, Circe’s similar reverence for her partner’s “glistening trail…only residue” described as her “meat and sustenance” further indicates that his “residue,” in its literal sense, is yet another tangible, tactical proof of his yearning that she can internalize and supply her own desire. It is not the man himself, but rather tangible evidence of his desire for her that she values, once again separating his personhood from his role that caters to her desire.

Circe’s longing to be desired reaches its height when she wishes that her partner become emotionally dependent on her to a degree that he must need her to survive, and thus, allow her to as well. Here, she uses explicit imagery to suggest her desire for a deeper emotional connection in two specific ways. First, Circe defines survival in the context of her pursuit of this man; she states that she would “open him up and crawl back into that spot below his heart that marks her absence…teach him the possibility of union.” Circe purposefully evades entering the man’s heart, a traditional symbol of love, and instead seeks to establish a more permanent mark “below” it, possibly referencing an essential organ such as his kidney or stomach. If Circe wishes to attain his commitment by supplying his liver, she might wish to mimic intoxication or sickening to ensure that he is eternally addicted to her. If she alludes to his stomach, on the contrary, Circe may suggest that she wishes to become as primitive and necessary to him as food. In either instance, it is important to note that while she explicitly claims her desire to “teach him the possibility of union” or cultivate an authentic emotional connection with him, the manner in which she aims to do so imitates the primitive quality of her past affairs with him. Now, upon realizing the fleeting nature of sex, she seeks a similarly primal connection in a more inherent and sustainable manner by replacing herself from a mere sexual desire into a necessity to his survival. To elaborate, Circe secondly defines her own survival relative to her partner, curating a twisted cycle of codependency. For instance, Circe establishes that her partner’s “wetness…as he slipped out of her…were only residue, but are nevertheless, the very meat and sustenance required to survive.” Circe’s conclusion that the man’s residue is of utmost necessity to her survival juxtaposes against her previous claim that she seeks “the necessity of promise and belief.” The man is a marker who has left his mark or “residue” on her, though she wishes that she can become a marker to him to ensure the continuity of his “residue.” For instance, while she desires to teach him the ideas of love, union, and commitment, she remains firm that it is his residue, even after he has “slipped out of her” that is the “meat and sustenance” required for her to survive. While she longs for emotional connection, it is simply a means for her to cement his desire for her, for his residue, serving as proof of his desire for her, is still the optimal supply that quite literally substantiates his desire for her and fulfills Circe’s longing to be needed. As a result, Circe’s grief originates not from the departure of her lover, but rather from the abrupt psychological dissonance she experiences due to the negligence of her most innate, subliminal desires.