Covintree is a graduate of Randolph-Macon Women's College with a degree in English. In this essay, Covintree explores the structure of Hirshfield's poem and the poem's direct attempt to connect with the reader.

Jane Hirshfield's poem "Three Times My Life Has Opened," the very last poem in her collection entitled Lives of the Heart, speaks to the idea of personal revelation and discovery. Almost expressly in the middle of the poem, Hirshfield directly addresses the reader, saying "You will recognize what I am saying or you will not." With this statement, she challenges readers to a more careful examination of both the poem and the self.

Hirshfield's poem is thirteen lines total and comprised of nine short sentences and three long sentences. Hirshfield carefully uses both line and sentence. A line is the grouping of words that comprises one row of writing. Many sentences take up more...