Once
by Paisley Rekdal
The Poem
“Once” by Paisley Rekdal is both gorgeous and heartbreaking, like so much of what the world bears for us. It tells the story of losing a pet, and, in doing so, tells the story of loss more generally.
Adorned with alliteration, enjambment, imagery, and personification, the poem details the speaker’s memories of her dog as he lies in the corner of the animal hospital, waiting for “the needle / with its cold / pronouncements.” Throughout the poem’s narrative arc, Rekdal contrasts the present and its coldness with the past and its warmth. But as the speaker explores her grief, leaning into the pain, choosing to move through it rather than around, she experiences sparkling glimmers of epiphany, such as this: “What / a shock to watch / what you know unfold / deeper into, or out of / itself. It is like / loving an animal: / hopeless, an extravagance / we were meant for: / startled, continually, / by what we’re willing / to feel.”
So here’s to Rekdal, and here’s to our hopeless extravagances, to being continually startled by what we’re willing to feel.
Its Colors
With each poem we share, we ask Claude 3 (Sonnet) to generate a palette of five colors that embody the poem’s content and mood. Claude shares its color choices with us via hexadecimal codes, and we share them with you via the palette at the top of the post. Here’s Claude’s explanation for today’s colors:
#E6E2D6 - A soft, pale cream color representing the white field and the purity of snow.
#D8B384 - A warm, golden beige color capturing the dog's golden fur and the vibrant life within.
#A63D40 - A deep, crimson red symbolizing the needle, the life fading, and the emotional intensity of loss.
#5C7B8A - A cool, bluish-gray tone reflecting the flat light, the animal hospital's sterile environment, and the somber mood.
#8BA989 - A muted, olive green hue representing the buried grasses, the meadow, and the natural world the dog once roamed freely.
This palette aims to capture the contrasting elements of the poem: the innocence and purity of the white field, the warmth and vitality of the golden dog, the sorrow and finality of the needle, the clinical and melancholic hospital setting, and the ever-present connection to nature. The colors transition from light to dark, warm to cool, vibrant to muted, mirroring the poem's emotional journey.
Things to Notice
If you’re looking for exquisite technique, it’s not difficult to find in the poem. Here are a few of the things we’d recommend looking for:
Enjambment (lines flow into one another throughout the poem, binding the past to the present while allowing Rekdal to juxtapose cold and warm imagery)
Alliteration (words with the same opening sound are strung together for various effects—take a peek at our examples below)
“breath / and muscle puncturing / the snow, sudden / stetting over the tips / of the meadow’s buried / grasses” (emphasis added)
“Dashing / past me on my skis, / for the first time / faster, as if / he had been hiding this, / his good uses” (emphasis added)
Imagery (detailed scenes appear throughout the poem, connecting the abstract to the concrete)
Emotive word choice (connotation runs strong throughout the poem and serves to build a somber mood while allowing Rekdal to further contrast ideas via the emotional tenor of her word choice)
Personification (the dog is lent human attributes, further endearing us to both the dog and the speaker)
Of all these ideas, though, we’re particularly interested in Rekdal’s strategic use of imagery and word choice. The poem begins with the image of a dog “dashing” through a “white field” of snow. Although the scene is obviously cold in the literal sense, Rekdal’s use of “gold” to describe the dog’s fur adds a shot of warmth that’s compounded by the line “being what I loved him for.”
This scene is juxtaposed against its successor, where the dog is now portrayed as trembling (evoking a sense of cold) in “the animal hospital” awaiting “the needle with its cold pronouncements.” (As an aside, the needle is also personified here—more on that below.)
The imagery, cast in powerfully connotative word choice, depicts what was and what is in sharp contrast to communicate the speaker’s heartbreak—to startle the reader to sorrow.
But more than answers, we have questions. Here are three of our most notable:
Why is the needle personified, as described above? What effect does this produce?
As the dog lies in the animal hospital, Rekdal writes that he “trembles with what he once was.” What might this feel like? Have you experienced the same—trembling with what you once were—at some point in your life, and what does it mean to tremble for a past iteration of yourself?
Rekdal refers to the “hopeless” extravagances “we were meant for.” What are these extravagances in our lives? And, importantly, is the idea of an extravagance “we were meant for” an oxymoron or paradox or sorts? Or can the commonplace be extravagant in its own right?
As always, if you stumble across something brilliant, or if you have a question that lingers with you, leave us a comment. We’d love to hear from you.
Classroom Context
This is a poem many students relate to on first read. Many students have lost a pet, perhaps a dog, and have experienced the ache in Rekdal’s lines. That relatability grabs students’ attention and interest.
But engagement alone isn’t an end in and of itself—it’s a vehicle for loftier goals, and there are many you could reach for with “Once.” One goal we recommend reaching for is using the poem to teach alliteration as the sound devices in “Once” are subtle rather than startling. Students need potent examples of sound used masterfully rather than used in a way that dictates the content of a poem.
We also recommend using the poem to teach connotation (ask students to highlight “cold” and “warm” words) and imagery. If you have the time, ask students to depict the scenes in quick sketches before adding color. Then ask them to defend their scenes and color choices using textual evidence. Once students have played a bit with the images, push them further by asking them to explain how the imagery shapes, even becomes, the poem.
Now matter how you decide to use “Once,” though, spend time making space for its beautiful epiphanies. We recommend using the lines we quoted above: “What / a shock to watch / what you know unfold / deeper into, or out of / itself. It is like / loving an animal: / hopeless, an extravagance / we were meant for: / startled, continually, / by what we’re willing / to feel.” Ask students to define what it means to “watch what you know unfold deeper into, or out of itself.” Ask students what hopeless extravagances they think we’re “meant for.” Ask students if they have ever been startled “by what [they’re] willing to feel.” Give them space to explore their depths—humanity’s depths. Chances are, they’ll be better for what they find there.