December 1, 1993

Diving into the Wreck
By: Adrienne Rich (1973)

First having read the book of myths, and loaded the camera, and checked the edge of the knife-blade, I put on the body-armor of black rubber 5 the absurd flippers the grave and awkward mask. I am having to do this not like Cousteau with his assiduous team 10 aboard the sun-flooded schooner but here alone. There is a ladder. The ladder is always there hanging innocently 15 close to the side of the schooner. We know what it is for, we who have used it. Otherwise it is a piece of maritime floss 20 some sundry equipment. I go down. Rung after rung and still the oxygen immerses me the blue light 25 the clear atoms of our human air. I go down. My flippers cripple me, I crawl like an insect down the ladder 30 and there is no one to tell me when the ocean will begin. First the air is blue and then it is bluer and then green and then 35 black I am blacking out and yet my mask is powerful it pumps my blood with power the sea is another story the sea is not a question of power 40 I have to learn alone to turn my body without force in the deep element. And now: it is easy to forget what I came for 45 among so many who have always lived here swaying their crenellated fans between the reefs and besides 50 you breathe differently down here. I came to explore the wreck. The words are purposes. The words are maps. I came to see the damage that was done 55 and the treasures that prevail. I stroke the beam of my lamp slowly along the flank of something more permanent than fish or weed 60 the thing I came for: the wreck and not the story of the wreck the thing itself and not the myth the drowned face always staring toward the sun 65 the evidence of damage worn by salt and sway into this threadbare beauty the ribs of the disaster curving their assertion among the tentative haunters. 70 This is the place. And I am here, the mermaid whose dark hair streams black, the merman in his armored body. We circle silently about the wreck 75 we dive into the hold. I am she: I am he whose drowned face sleeps with open eyes whose breasts still bear the stress whose silver, copper, vermeil cargo lies 80 obscurely inside barrels half-wedged and left to rot we are the half-destroyed instruments that once held to a course the water-eaten log 85 the fouled compass We are, I am, you are by cowardice or courage the one who find our way back to this scene 90 carrying a knife, a camera a book of myths in which our names do not appear.

Introduction

Adrienne Rich’s “Diving into the Wreck” (1973) stands as a defining work of feminist poetry, encapsulating themes of personal transformation, historical excavation, and the search for truth beyond patriarchal narratives. Written during the height of the women’s liberation movement, the collection reflects Rich’s evolving political consciousness and her rejection of traditional literary and societal structures. As critic Alicia Ostriker notes, Rich’s poetry “charts the journey of a woman determined to find her own language, her own story, and ultimately her own self.”

Born in 1929, Rich was deeply influenced by both the formalist tradition of poetry—having been encouraged by her father to adopt a structured, intellectual approach—and the radical social movements of the 1960s and 70s. Her early work adhered to conventional poetic forms, but as her political consciousness expanded, so too did her poetics. By the time “Diving into the Wreck” was published, Rich had fully embraced a feminist and political voice, moving beyond the confessional mode into a broader critique of social structures. As Gilbert and Gubar argue in The Madwoman in the Attic, Rich’s poetry “rewrites the myths of gender and power, reclaiming the lost voices of women who have been submerged by patriarchal history.”

“Diving into the Wreck” serves as a metaphor for self-discovery and historical revision. The speaker embarks on a solitary descent into the ocean, armed with a book of myths, only to find that the written histories fail to capture the true experience of the wreck. This wreck—symbolizing both personal trauma and the broader oppression of women—becomes the site of excavation, where the speaker unearths hidden truths about identity, history, and resilience. The imagery of the sea, the wreck, and the ladder evokes both danger and transformation, mirroring Rich’s belief in the necessity of facing painful truths in order to move forward.

Rich’s work in this collection also engages with broader feminist and queer themes. As Cheryl Walker observes, Rich’s poetry “challenges traditional gender binaries and explores the multiplicity of identity.” The speaker in “Diving into the Wreck” is notably genderless, referred to as “I” and “we,” suggesting a collective experience that transcends singular identity. This fluidity speaks to Rich’s later articulation of lesbian identity and feminist solidarity, which became central to her subsequent work.

Ultimately, “Diving into the Wreck” is not merely a personal or feminist exploration but a radical act of reimagining history. Rich’s poetic dive is an assertion that the past, though shattered and submerged, can be reclaimed and rewritten through an unflinching gaze and a willingness to challenge received narratives. As Adrienne Rich herself stated in On Lies, Secrets, and Silence, “When a woman tells the truth, she is creating the possibility for more truth around her.” In this collection, Rich’s truth-telling extends not only to her own journey but to the collective experience of all those silenced by history.

Questions for Consideration

1. The poem begins with the speaker reading a “book of myths.” How does Rich critique patriarchal historical narratives, and what does it mean for the speaker to seek “the wreck and not the story of the wreck”?
2. In the lines “I am she: I am he,” the speaker transcends gender binaries. How does this challenge traditional notions of identity, and what might Rich be saying about the experience of marginalized genders?
3. The speaker undertakes the journey alone but later shifts pronouns from “I” to “we.” How does this reflect feminist notions of individual versus collective struggle in reclaiming history?
4. Many feminist critics argue that women’s histories have been erased or rewritten by dominant power structures. How does the speaker’s rejection of “the story of the wreck” align with feminist efforts to reclaim suppressed narratives?
5. Traditional narratives of adventure and exploration have often been dominated by male figures (e.g., Jacques Cousteau, Odysseus). How does Rich’s depiction of a lone, gender-fluid explorer challenge these conventions?
6. Could the poem’s journey to uncover submerged truths be read as a broader metaphor for uncovering histories erased by colonialism, racism, or classism? What groups might this “wreck” represent?
7. The speaker must rely on tools like flippers, a knife, and a mask to navigate the depths. How might this symbolize the struggles of navigating a world that is not designed for marginalized bodies?
8. Adrienne Rich was a lesbian feminist who wrote extensively about compulsory heterosexuality. How might the wreck symbolize queer erasure or the process of rediscovering LGBTQ+ histories?
9. The wreck is a site of disaster but also of truth. What does the speaker’s presence in the wreck suggest about survival after trauma—whether personal, historical, or systemic?
10. The imagery of the ocean and the wreck evokes nature and decay. Could the poem also function as an ecofeminist critique, linking the oppression of women with the exploitation of the environment?

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Notes

Citations

Works Cited

• Gilbert, Sandra M.; Gubar, Susan (1979). The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination. Yale UP.
• Ostriker, Alicia (1986). Stealing the Language: The Emergence of Women’s Poetry in America. Beacon Press.
• Rich, Adrienne (1979). On Lies, Secrets, and Silence: Selected Prose 1966-1978. New York: W. W. Norton.
• Walker, Cheryl (1982). The Nightingale’s Burden: Women Poets and American Culture Before 1900. Indiana University Press.