“Late Fragment” by Raymond Carver

On By Christina's WordsIn Poetry

And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.

“Late Fragment” by Raymond Carver From A New Path to the Waterfall, Atlantic Monthly Press, 1989.

* Related: “HOW POEMS WORK: Late Fragment by Raymond Carver” poem analysis and article by AISLINN HUNTER. From that article:

Late Fragment is the final poem in the poet and short story writer Raymond Carver’s (1938-1988) last published work, A New Path to the Waterfall, a collection that was written while he was dying of cancer. I value the Carver poem for a number of reasons. Mostly, I admire its simplicity and its poignancy. There is no measure of irony or artifice in it. There is also an underlying sense of celebration — this, in the affirmative “I did” and in the realization that when all is said and done, to call oneself beloved and to feel oneself beloved (a kind of proof) is enough.

10 thoughts on ““Late Fragment” by Raymond Carver”

  1. mishedup

    IF I were to be burred with all the pomp and circumstance and plot and headstone (and I won’t be)…this is what I would have on my headstone, just this.
    LOVE it!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. The only one who comes close I think is Samuel Menashe. Like Carver, it was his quest to say as much as possible in as few words as possible.

      I have a Menashe piece planned soon. 😉

      I posted a video above to Mish of Nat King Cole’s “Nature Boy.” Take a listen when you get a few. Love!

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      1. Its a pleasure Christina…Living Beautifully in the mind is my blog for beautiful words.

        Thea Brooke Bibliography is the place where I do longer pieces, reviews and life advice.

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