How Does Breyten Breytenbach Show In His Poetry His Wife's Significanc

In his poetry which he wrote during his time in jail, Breyten Breytenbach shows that his wife and his love for her had a tremendous influence on his survival under the physically and emotionally harsh conditions of prison.

The thought of his wife allowed Breyten Breytenbach to escape from the horrors of his surroundings in prison and gave him psychological freedom; word from her let him escape into a world of space, peace and freedom created for him in her letters, memories of being together with his wife transported him psychologically to another time and place where he had been free.

Breytenbach's poem your letter is delightful... shows the important role that his wife plays in his life. She is his "God", for even as God's powers become useless in the chaotic world around him, she is able to bring him joy and hope and free his mind. Breytenbach compares his wife to God in this poem by using biblical allusions.

The letter from his wife is "...lighter than the thoughts of a flower when the dream is the earth of a garden..." She brings light into his world, just as God brings light to the world at the beginning of time. With her letter comes images of light, of freedom, of joy. The "earth of a garden" brings to mind the garden of Eden, a paradise, to where Breytenbach can escape from reality. His wife also brings "word from the outside", and in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God.

The poem contains many allusions to Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd", which reinforces this role of Breytenbach's wife. "...allow me to live in your letter / all the days of my life" is an allusion to the part of Psalm 23 "...and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord throughout the years to come". Her letter creates a safe place for Breytenbach to mentally escape to, and he would like to be able to stay in that place, away from reality, from prison, for all the days of his life.

Breytenbach's wife needs to replace God in Breytenbach's life because God seems to have forsaken him. "I slept in green pastures" is an allusion to Psalm 23, but "sleep" is used in the past tense, emphasising that the peace that God gave him is no longer his. "the table before me, in the presence of my enemies, / is bare; I have ash on my head, my cup is empty..." is another biblical allusion, but in Psalm 23, God has furnished his table and anointed his head with oil, and the cup overflows. And so, Breytenbach "fled" to his wife's letter, escaped. This also shows that God is no longer able to help Breytenbach escape from his misery, as his wife alone can.

Word from or the thought alone of his wife allows Breytenbach to escape mentally from the agony and gloom of prison. In your letter is delightful, her letter brings him "word from the outside" suggests that the letter allows him a glimpse of a world outside the miserable one he currently is in. He "will be suspended by the sky of [her] words" - her words, the letter, allow him to temporarily escape from prison and the horrors of imprisonment.

In do you still remember, Breytenbach is reminiscing about the old days of freedom (assumed to be spent with his wife from the last line "you and I, best beloved?"). This journey down memory lane "through all the tunnels and sluices of the city" allows Breytenbach to completely escape from reality and into another time and place where freedom was still his. The fact that Breytenbach described every scene, every place in detail shows that he was completely detached from the present and had fully escaped back to the past. He shows that indulging in memories of days spent with his wife, also help him to achieve psychological freedom.

Space, psychological or physical, is linked with freedom, and in your letter is delightful there is a lot of imagery concerning large, open spaces. Breytenbach's wife's letter is "larger and lighter than the thoughts of a flower", and as it opens, "there is an unfolding of sky... of ample spaces". As soon as the letter opens,