Into the Dark: Reading Hannah Arendt’s Poems, Dr. Samantha Hill
When listening to the talk, I found how Arendt uses darkness very interesting because she does not mention light much, which is the usual contrast for darkness. She describes it as a friend, but then she mentions a void. Her early pieces describe the darkness she has seen around her with the war and evil she perceives in the world. Her later poems deal with the mourning she has experienced from the death of her friends and describes it as a greeting and a departure. Even though Arendt’s poems deal with hard topics, Dr. Hill described how she used poetry to preserve the world we all share in common. This statement stuck with me because there is a sort of beauty to it. Poetry is unique in its precise or random prose, and it can capture a feeling where spoken words may fail.