Fire-caught
Fire-caught - meaning Summary
Desire and Self-destruction
A brief, imagistic poem contrasts two moths drawn to a flame. The bright, “gold” moth rejects the ember and escapes, while the duller, gray moth circles the fire obsessively until it is consumed. The poem explores destructive attraction, self-erasure, and the difference between fleeting beauty that survives and a fixated longing that leads to annihilation. Tone is spare and fateful, using the moths as moral symbols.
Read Complete AnalysesThe gold moth did not love him So, gorgeous, she flew away. But the gray moth circled the flame Until the break of day. And then, with wings like a dead desire, She fell, fire-caught, into the flame.
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