Part one of term paper
The second sonnet in Mark Jarman's group of sonnets entitled The Word "Answer" can be interpreted two different ways. Is there a "right" way from which to view this poem, or is the poet simply exercising his God given right to ambiguity? Sonnet 2, as I will refer to it, revolves around someone sitting in a bathtub when suddenly there is a k ...

Part two of term paper
... but rather the debate whether or not to let the strange knocker inside. Mark Jarman places the following quote by Karl Barth from Prayer at the beginning of his four sonnets: "Prayer exerts an influence upon God's action, even upon his existence. This is what the word 'answer' means." Sonnet 2 is the only of the four poems that does not explicitly mention prayer or God. Yet it is clear the poem deals with the same topic as the three sonnets with which it is grouped. The ambiguity of the poe ...