The poem comin thro' the rye has left an image on
my mind of a really unfaithful wife that usually cheats to her husband.
When I read the poem with this image in my mind a word always pops out into my
head. This word is "Ethics".
The tone of the poem is a heavy and painful tone. Somehow
we sense a felling of regret and guilt. The fact that Robert Burns uses a field
of rye instead of a field of grapes is a symbol for the pain because the rye
has sort of spikes so it would heart. The fact that Jenny is dragging her
petticoat can tell us that she cant carry it or wear it because it
may be a burden for something she did.
The
word ethics pops out into my head because I think that she is doing something
wrong. The fact that a petticoat is what women used closer to their bodies back
I the time, and that she was dragging it instead of wearing it as they were supposed
to do, makes me think that she is tempting the man who is at the end of the
field of rye.
In
class we touched the discussion for who was this man. At first we considered the
option of her husband but I am negative to this idea. I think that if he was her
husband she wouldn’t have to do such a great effort, like go trough a long
field of rye while getting wet.
With
some extra background we know that something sexual happened, or is about to happen,
however we really don’t know what was it. Another thing that we know is that someone is waiting for
Jenny. But who?
This
two facts re what make the poem so interesting and hard to get a complete understanding
of it.
