The Layers Analysis

We don't have much to say about form and meter because Kunitz has kept it simple in that department. His earlier works were actually more formal (employing metrical feet and traditional structures)...

This speaker is less of a main character and more of a universal voice (kind of like Yoda-speak, remember?). As mentioned in the "Detailed Summary," we're not given any specific details about who h...

Setting is a little tricky because the entire poem takes place in the speaker's mind. With that said, he does reflect on several vague places. Kunitz presents us with a speaker who's been traveling...

This poem is meditative and reflective in tone, by and large, but that makes the dynamic moments screech all the louder. When the speaker gets emotionally stirred-up in this poem, we can hear it—...

Life isn't cut-and-dry; it's complicated. Kunitz shows that complexity by calling this poem "The Layers," which comes directly from lines 37-38: "Live in the layers, / not in the litter." Instead o...

Kunitz tends to use plain, direct language yet somehow manages to pack in a variety of meanings. His poems feel grounded yet they also float around in a liminal, conceptual space. He mixes concrete...

On first glance, "The Layers" seems like an easy climb. It's not full of huge, obscure words and we can get the gist of it. With further review, however, we find that the content is dense and weigh...

Stanley Kunitz was given the prestigious National Medal of Arts in 1993 by President Clinton. He taught at Columbia University for over thirty years as a mentor to young poets. (Source)Stanley Kuni...

There might be some death happening in this poem, but none of it's gory, and it's definitely not hot. This guy is old and stuff.