Thread: Fear - Raymond Carver

I'm trying to figure out the meaning behind some of these lines in Raymond Carver's "Fear"

One line particular sticks out like a sore thumb (sorry for the cliche):

Fear of my children's handwriting on envelopes.

I tried google, and I have a few ideas of my own about this. But I'm still relatively new to poetry - meaning I'm just now starting to get serious about reading and writing it. I'd like to hear what you guys think.

Here's the full poem. I'm sure many of you are familiar with it:

Fear of seeing a police car pull into the drive.
Fear of falling asleep at night.
Fear of not falling asleep.
Fear of the past rising up.
Fear of the present taking flight.
Fear of the telephone that rings in the dead of night.
Fear of electrical storms.
Fear of the cleaning woman who has a spot on her cheek!
Fear of dogs I've been told won't bite.
Fear of anxiety!
Fear of having to identify the body of a dead friend.
Fear of running out of money.
Fear of having too much, though people will not believe this.
Fear of psychological profiles.
Fear of being late and fear of arriving before anyone else.
Fear of my children's handwriting on envelopes.
Fear they'll die before I do, and I'll feel guilty.
Fear of having to live with my mother in her old age, and mine.
Fear of confusion.
Fear this day will end on an unhappy note.
Fear of waking up to find you gone.
Fear of not loving and fear of not loving enough.
Fear that what I love will prove lethal to those I love.
Fear of death.
Fear of living too long.
Fear of death.
I've said that.

Maybe a fear that his children will grow up and move far away. If they stay close they won't need to write letters. They will visit regularly. It's not the handwriting on letters he fears, more what it represents.

Just a thought. I don't know Carver, or very much poetry, but it strikes me as feasible.

Thank you very much for sharing this wonderful poem. It is fantastic, thank you.

"Fear of my children's handwriting on envelopes."

Well obviously, in this line of the poem, we are dealing with the likely event of a handwritten letter sent to the poet by his child. I do agree with the notion that the child must be living far away but I would be a little more comfortable in thinking that the poet fears what kind of news the letter may contain rather than the more mediocre and sentimental drivel of a parent unwilling to let go of his first born. I'm not so sure that the intended effect here is to be one of sentiment or nostalgia. Fear is the driving force in this poem. The vehicle. "Fear of anxiety!" cries the poet and he is gripped by it and controlled by it. Fear is the great source of power fuelling the poet's imagination but not sentiment - nothing so vulgar! I've never known fear to work to such ends. Carver states his meaing quiet clearly, directly and unambiguously throughout the poem. It is a great piece. Strong. I love the last four lines:

Fear of death.
Fear of living too long.
Fear of death.
I've said that.

The final line is brilliant. Fear is deep rooted. Has the poet any conscious control over it?

Thank you again for sharing it. It has been some years since I last read this poem. I love it.

Good one and I ran across this one in reading about it:

Your Dog Dies
Raymond Carver

it gets run over by a van.
you find it at the side of the road
and bury it.
you feel bad about it.
you feel bad personally,
but you feel bad for your daughter
because it was her pet,
and she loved it so.
she used to croon to it
and let it sleep in her bed.
you write a poem about it.
you call it a poem for your daughter,
about the dog getting run over by a van
and how you looked after it,
took it out into the woods
and buried it deep, deep,
and that poem turns out so good
you're almost glad the little dog
was run over, or else you'd never
have written that good poem.
then you sit down to write
a poem about writing a poem
about the death of that dog,
but while you're writing you
hear a woman scream
your name, your first name,
both syllables,
and your heart stops.
after a minute, you continue writing.
she screams again.
you wonder how long this can go on.

Thanks for sharing that, kenny. Great poem.

I may be late with this post, but oh well.

Carver was a man who made some poor decisions, which affected the relationships he had with his children. In a way it's safe to say he was selfish and separated himself from most things that mattered. He was not the type of writer to place deep implications within his material and he didn't use much if any symbolism. With that said, the line only says what it really says--Fear of my children's handwriting on envelopes. What it means is everything, in which handwriting on an envelope can mean. One thing it may mean most is the feeling of regret he hides from for not caring for his children the way he should have, even if the letter was pleasant and sincere.

In fact, we have too many fears in life. I like both poems. He writes from his heart with true feelings.