Both of these lines start with what could be
positive associations, to know the cockroach
and to touch it. However, they each end with
the negative associations that were taught to the
speaker as she was growing up: that the roach is
to be dreaded and that it is filth. The third line
does not have the split positive/negative feelings
of the first two, instead going for one straight-
forward, extreme point. The speaker has been
taught not to dislike or distrust the cockroach
but to despise it—and not just certain elements
about it but everything about it.
The poem’s fourth line begins with the same
words that begin the first two lines. It diverts
from the pattern established by them, however,
by extending the observation to a full line rather
than a half. This line goes far to confuse the
identity of the subject of the poem: while cock-
roaches can be unknown and untouched and
despised, as in the previous lines, wars are usu-
ally fought between people. Readers are there-
fore given a clear indicator that, even as it speaks
of attitudes toward cockroaches, this poem is
hinting at human relations as well.
The speaker’s response to observing the
war on the cockroach is given in line 5, which
repeats the poem’s first idea of basic unfamiliar-
ity. This line, according to the pattern, is con-
nected to line 4, and its thought is also carried
over into line 6, which explains the unfamiliarity
as stemming from the speaker’s childhood, lived
in places that were kept clear of cockroaches.
Lines 7 through 9 contain one continuous
thought. This thought is centered around the
violent imagery of line 8, which uses the poem’s
most explicit language and images. Line 7 leads
into this violence with the ironic reference to
people meeting the subject, as if the acts that
are to follow are going to be friendly actions.
Line 9 completes the idea of pouring boiling
water and then goes on to pair it with flushing
cockroaches down toilets, keeping all of the
water imagery on one line.
The idea of being unable to distinguish cock-
roaches from one another is brought up for the
third time in line 10, using almost the same
wording that was used in line 5. The following
lines expand upon the idea that the poem is
perhaps talking about cockroaches but is per-
haps also talking about people. While the three
words used to describe the cockroach in line 11
do describe insects, Rukeyser also indulges in
humanizing them. The personification is even
more pronounced in line 12, in which the poet
draws a comparison between the physique of the
cockroach and her own build. The fact that a
person is built differently than a cockroach is
obvious, but the perceived differences between
members of one ethnic or racial group and
another are worth giving some consideration.
The poet’s awareness of how she differs from
her subject is only significant if her subject is
another human being.
In the poem’s center lines (lines 13 through
19), the personification of the cockroach is made
unequivocally clear. Insects do not have poems,
sayings, or language, but Rukeyser attributes all
of these to the poem’s subject. By this point,
then, there is no way to avoid the conclusion
that Rukeyser is actually writing about people.
What is not made explicitly clear, however, is the
identity of the people she is writing about. They
are presumably a social group, a culture that
would share the same language, sayings, and
songs. As line 11 explains, they are dark, slender,
and fast on their feet. These characteristics can
describe many different peoples around the
globe, and the poet does nothing to pinpoint
any in particular. By leaving the identity of the
group vague, Rukeyser indicates that the target
of this poem is prejudice in general.
The question of how prejudice continues is
brought up in lines 17 through 20. Previously,
the speaker has focused on the fact that she
was not taught to understand or appreciateMEDIA
ADAPTATIONS Rukeyser reads fromThe Gatesand talks
about her life in a 1978 film calledMuriel
Rukeyser, produced by Perspective Films
and available from Coronet/MTI Film and
Video.
‘‘St. Roach’’ is read by Rukeyser onThe
Poetry and Voice of Muriel Rukeyser.Origi-
nally released in 1977 by Caedmon on an LP
album, it is also available on audio cassette.St. Roach