diving into the wreck

One of the first images that I saw was a lonely woman deep sea diving by herself. Upon arriving at the scene of the "shipwreck" the image of the broken ship and rotting boards become prevalent. Damage is a recurring image throughout the poem and this can be seen when she describes the  scene as "threadbare", "drowned", "half destroyed", "water-eaten" and "fouled".

Upon first reading this poem I thought it was about a woman who had been through a lot in her life and was reflecting upon her past. I thought the damage was about her broken heart, possibly from a bad relationship. I felt as if she were almost suicidal in parts of it, especially when she talks about putting on the mask and "blacking out". I felt as though the shipwreck was simply her own life that had sunk to the depths and she was searching for the light. She needed to visit the ship to see for herself and to come to terms with her hardships. It seemed to me that this interpretation was only logical especially after reading the first stanza and realizing that she was on the boat alone.

After reading the poem a second time I came up with a more universal interpretation. I saw the wrecked ship as a representation of our society. I believe she is questioning society and what is gong on. I think she feels alone and on the outside. This is why she is circling above the ship while she hopes to find t"treasure" which I believe to be a metaphor for her place in society.

In the last stanza she talks about a book of myths in which "our names will never appear". I interpreted this as her opinion that peoples views on society are very mythical and that in reality there is a lot wrong with our societal structure. If everybody could just take the time to see the shipwreck than society would be a lot better off.