Anne Sexton’s poem "45 Mercy Street"

E757510

Anne Sexton’s poem "45 Mercy Street" is a confessional, introspective work in which the speaker obsessively searches for an elusive, possibly imaginary address that symbolizes a lost sense of home, identity, and emotional refuge.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Anne Sexton’s poem "45 Mercy Street" canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf literary work ⓘ
poem ⓘ
author Anne Sexton ⓘ
centralMotif search for an address ⓘ
centralSymbol elusive address ⓘ
centralTheme dislocation ⓘ
emotional refuge ⓘ
memory and loss ⓘ
psychological fragmentation ⓘ
search for home ⓘ
search for identity ⓘ
countryOfOrigin United States ⓘ
depicts alienation in a city environment ⓘ
blurred boundary between memory and imagination ⓘ
speaker’s obsessive search for an address ⓘ
genre confessional poetry ⓘ
hasImageryOf houses ⓘ
night or dreamlike settings ⓘ
streets ⓘ
hasTitleElement street address ⓘ
language English ⓘ
literaryMovement Confessional poetry movement ⓘ
literaryPeriod 20th-century American poetry ⓘ
motif dreamlike searching ⓘ
repetition of the address ⓘ
urban landscape ⓘ
narrativeVoice first-person speaker ⓘ
protagonist unnamed female speaker ⓘ
relatedTo Anne Sexton’s personal history ⓘ
Sexton’s exploration of family and home ⓘ
themes of mental illness in Sexton’s work ⓘ
style confessional ⓘ
introspective ⓘ
subjectMatter inability to return to a stable home ⓘ
inner psychological landscape ⓘ
search for a possibly imaginary place ⓘ
symbolizes emotional refuge ⓘ
fractured identity ⓘ
lost sense of home ⓘ
psychic destination ⓘ
unattainable safety ⓘ
tone haunting ⓘ
melancholic ⓘ
obsessive ⓘ
usesDevice dream logic ⓘ
imagery ⓘ
repetition ⓘ
symbolism ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Mercy Street → hasLyricalReference → Anne Sexton’s poem "45 Mercy Street" ⓘ