don t let me be lonely by claudia rankine

Early in the poem, she quotes Cornel West, who “makes the point that hope is different from American optimism” (21). In line with Keats, Rankine’s work is capable of existing in ambiguity and doubt, yet the beauty for which she strives is a sense of hope. Throughout the poem, Rankine resists definition and certainty. Nothing will ever be the same nothing can be clearly defined.

So much has drastically changed, and we, like Rankine’s speaker, are trying to adapt, knowing that though there will be a new normal, eventually. As within the aftermath of 9/11, we are experiencing a shifting world. This sense of doubt is inherently connected to time and place: this poem takes place in New York City, very shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, a life-changing event to which many of us are comparing current events. Our speaker is distinctly aware of the distance between herself and others she resists creating a sense of shared experience and is never sure if her observations or thoughts are correct or accurate. A great thinker is “capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason” (from the Poetry Foundation).Ī lyricized account of uncertainty, Claudia Rankine’s book-length poem Don’t Let Me Be Lonely proves just how much emotional resonance exists in ambiguity. John Keats first used the term “negative capability” to recognize art that does not yield a quick philosophical “answer” but rather exists within uncertainty, mystery, or even doubt. We are living in a strange liminality, caught between different emotions and modes of thinking and absolutely fraught with uncertainty and ambiguity.

We have to come together by staying apart, and in addition to the larger issues of healthcare, treatment, and financial security, many of us are grappling with isolation and intense loneliness. We’re being asked to distance ourselves socially and take extreme precautions. We find ourselves in a time of great uncertainty: an international pandemic is spreading and while there is some testing, there is not yet a cure.

Don t let me be lonely by claudia rankine