Inside This Guide: It’s Not by Tracy K. Smith

  • In-Depth Poem Analysis: Explore Tracy K. Smith’s “It’s Not,” where she examines themes of identity, loss, and personal conflict through powerful imagery and reflection.
  • Key Themes Covered:
    • The disconnection between expectations and reality in relationships and self-perception
    • The struggle with identity and the journey of self-realization
    • Smith’s use of metaphors and irony to express the conflict between personal desires and societal pressures
  • Literary Devices & Techniques: Detailed breakdown of metaphor, symbolism, and tone used to convey deep emotional complexity and internal conflict.

Context:

“It’s Not” by Tracy K. Smith explores themes of loss, grief, and the human condition. The poem examines how people process and confront deep, sometimes unspoken emotions that arise from difficult experiences. Through intimate reflection and direct language, Smith critiques the way in which individuals often fail to understand or express their true feelings, leaving them trapped in a cycle of silence. The poem touches on themes of disconnect, loneliness, and the complexity of inner life, all while questioning the simplicity of what it means to truly know and be known.

Line-by-Line Analysis:

Lines 1-4:

Analysis: The poem opens with a reflection on identity and the difficulty of truly knowing oneself or another. The phrase “It’s not like that” suggests a disruption of preconceived ideas about connection or understanding. The speaker begins to deny or reject a common narrative, suggesting that the reality is far more complicated and difficult to express. The line “there’s no telling” further reflects the sense of uncertainty and ambivalence that permeates the poem.

  • Quote 1: “It’s not like that”
    • Explanation: This phrase establishes the disruption of expectations. The speaker begins by denying a simple or clear explanation of what is happening, setting the tone for ambiguity and complexity.
  • Quote 2: “There’s no telling”
    • Explanation: This line emphasizes the impossibility of fully understanding or articulating emotions or experiences. It highlights the limits of language and suggests that some things are beyond our capacity to explain.

Lines 5-8:

Analysis: The speaker deepens the exploration of confusion and lack of clarity. The phrase “Not even the air / Knows what I mean” brings attention to the invisibility and intangibility of the emotions the speaker is feeling. The idea of air not knowing reflects how personal grief or confusion is often invisible to others, and even to oneself. The speaker seems to be grappling with a sense of being misunderstood, or perhaps not understanding themselves.

  • Quote 1: “Not even the air / Knows what I mean”
    • Explanation: This personification of the air emphasizes how the speaker’s emotions are unexpressed and inaccessible. It conveys the difficulty of communicating inner turmoil, making the speaker feel isolated and misunderstood.
  • Quote 2: “It’s not like that”
    • Explanation: The repetition of this phrase underscores the contradiction at the heart of the speaker’s experience, reinforcing the idea that whatever they are trying to express, they are still unable to—there’s an ongoing attempt to explain something that is inexplicable.

Lines 9-12:

Analysis: The speaker continues to struggle with the idea of incomprehensibility. The lines point to the idea of silenceand the impossibility of shared understanding between people. Smith’s use of “the spaces between” suggests that what is left unsaid is as significant as what is spoken. This may reflect the emotional gaps that exist between individuals, especially in the context of grief and loss, where people may be unable to communicate their true feelings.

  • Quote 1: “What is not spoken, / What is not in the air”
    • Explanation: This line emphasizes the silence and the unsaid—the emotional weight that cannot be expressed. It highlights the distance between thought and expression, suggesting that much of human experience is left unspoken.
  • Quote 2: “The spaces between us”
    • Explanation: This phrase further underscores the theme of distance. The speaker reflects on the emotional and communicative gaps that exist between themselves and others, showing how even in close relationships, there can be a lack of true connection.

Lines 13-16:

Analysis: The speaker seems to suggest that despite the difficulty in expressing emotions or experiences, understandingmay still be present. The line “We still don’t know what it is” points to the endless uncertainty that comes with confronting the unknown, especially in relation to deep feelings or existential questions. The speaker seems to acknowledge that there is no answer to the emotional confusion they feel, and that accepting the uncertainty might be the only way to move forward.

  • Quote 1: “We still don’t know what it is”
    • Explanation: This line encapsulates the ambiguity at the core of the poem. It reflects the failure to graspthe nature of the speaker’s emotions or situation, suggesting that some things may remain permanently out of reach.
  • Quote 2: “No telling what it is”
    • Explanation: This line continues the theme of uncertainty. The speaker accepts that some feelings or experiences cannot be fully understood, reinforcing the notion that some aspects of human existence are inherently unknowable.

Key Themes:

  • Inexpressibility of Emotion:
    • The poem reflects on the difficulty of expressing deep emotions and the limitations of language.
    • Quote: “Not even the air / Knows what I mean”
      • Explanation: This line captures the frustration of trying to communicate something that cannot be fully expressed, highlighting the invisibility of inner turmoil.
  • Isolation and Disconnect:
    • The speaker grapples with a sense of distance from others, even when surrounded by people.
    • Quote: “The spaces between us”
      • Explanation: This emphasizes the emotional distance that exists between individuals, suggesting that true connection can be hard to achieve.
  • Uncertainty and the Unknown:
    • The poem explores the uncertainty that often accompanies profound emotional experiences, particularly grief or loss.
    • Quote: “We still don’t know what it is”
      • Explanation: This line underscores the unknowability of the speaker’s emotions, emphasizing that some experiences defy comprehension.

Literary Devices:

  • Imagery:
    • Smith uses strong imagery to convey the emotional weight of the speaker’s experience.
    • Quote: “Not even the air / Knows what I mean”
      • Explanation: The personification of air suggests that the speaker’s emotions are not just invisible to others but also to the environment itself, intensifying the sense of isolation.
  • Repetition:
    • The repeated phrase “It’s not like that” creates a sense of frustration and denial, reinforcing the theme of inexpressibility.
    • Quote: “It’s not like that”
      • Explanation: This repetition serves to emphasize the inaccessibility of the speaker’s emotions, as they repeatedly fail to express what they truly feel.
  • Personification:
    • “The spaces between us” gives agency to the gaps in communication, making them seem like active forcesthat prevent connection.
    • Quote: “The spaces between us”
      • Explanation: This line personifies emotional gaps, suggesting that distance and misunderstanding are not passive but rather part of the active struggle for connection.

Mood of the Poem:

The mood of “It’s Not” is introspective and somber. Smith captures the frustration and pain of being unable to express or fully understand one’s emotions. There is an overwhelming sense of disconnect and loneliness, as the speaker struggles to communicate their internal turmoil and make sense of their feelings.

Conclusion:

In “It’s Not,” Tracy K. Smith reflects on the inexpressibility of emotion, particularly in times of grief or loss. Through powerful imagery and repetition, the poem explores the disconnect between inner feelings and outward expression, emphasizing the difficulty of truly knowing oneself or others. Smith’s poignant exploration of uncertainty and isolationinvites readers to reflect on the complex nature of human emotions and the limitations of language in capturing the fullness of experience.