The Broken Tower by Hart Crane

Since I read A Streetcar Named Desire, the epigraph has called my attention. 

First of all, I would like to explain what is an epigraph. An epigraph is a brief piece of writing such as a quotation or a motto at the beginning of the text, in this case a book, with the purpose of suggests the theme or show important aspects of the story.

The epigraph of this play chosen by Tennessee Williams is a short poem of Hart Crane titled “The broken tower” which was full of metaphors.

And so it was I entered the broken world
To trace the visionary company of love, its voice
An instant in the wind (I know not whither hurled)
But not for long to hold each desperate choice.
– “The Broken Tower” by Hart Crane

When I finished the book I realized that the short poem is the summary of the entire book, as if the poem was based on Blanche, specifically in the mood of Blanche in a poetic way and makes allusions of how is love for Blanche.

I would like to analyse the poem to make it more clear.

The broken world mentioned in the poem is referring to New Orleans, the southern place where the Blanche’s sister live and where Blanche is out of context, the house of her sister it’s not for her, it’s not the place that Blanche expects or would rather to live.

Also, Blanche considers herself as a victim of that broken world, because at the end she left the place saying the phrase “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers”. That means that she knows her reality but she still tried to escape from that reality by lying and drinking.

The poem also refers the love story of Blanche, the lasting of her affairs –as an instant in the wind –for instance, her husband dead who was homosexual and also, committed suicide, leaving Blanche with a scar of love, since that moment she started to be that way, having men’s company just for fun and to not feel alone.

But at the end of the epigraph, it refers to the choices, which is a contradiction with the choices that Blanche did. The poem refers to still make the right choices, but she was desperate that did the wrong choices being a liar since she was still overwhelmed by the death of her husband. She did that way because she had a still broken heart.

In that sense, I understand the way she acted and probably she didn’t make the right choices, but that’s was the only way for her to live trying to overcome her broken heart. She had it all, but she lost everything in a blink of an eye.

Do you agree with the analysis of the epigraph? Do you see it in another way?