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What do 'pelted clover' and 'gorged pastures' mean in the following poem by Louise Glück? Clover leaves that are being thrown? A pasture land with a pathway in the middle?

Labor Day

Requiring something lovely on his arm
Took me to Stamford, Connecticut, a quasi-farm,
His family's; later picking up the mammoth
Girlfriend of Charlie, meanwhile trying to pawn me off
On some third guy also up for the weekend.
But Saturday we still were paired; spent
It sprawled across that sprawling acreage
Until the grass grew limp
with damp. Like me. Johnston-baby, I can still see
The pelted clover, burrs' prickle fur and gorged
Pastures spewing infinite tiny bells. You pimp.

gorge:

A gorge is a deep, narrow valley with very steep sides, usually where a river passes through mountains or an area of hard rock

(Collins)

: a narrow passage through land
especially : a narrow steep-walled canyon or part of a canyon

(Merriam Webster)

pelt:

noun (1)
1. a usually undressed skin with its hair, wool, or fur

[...]

verb (2)
transitive verb
2. HURL, THROW
// pelted snowballs at them

(Merriam Webster)

bobble
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ajfbiw.s
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2 Answers2

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(Some of this answer was originally covered in comments which have since been removed.)

A “pelt” is a “hide or skin of an animal with the wool, hair, etc., still on it” (OED) so in context “pelted” means “having a texture resembling a pelt”, referring to the furry texture of clover flowers, which are made up of many tightly packed florets. (Noted by aparente001 and Stuart F.)

“Gorged” means “stuffed, crammed full”, usually with food, but here with “infinite tiny bells”, presumably meadow-plants with bell-shaped flowers such as Campanula, the “bellflower”.

The passage is full of sexual suggestiveness: the “grass grew limp with damp”, like lovers after intercourse (the speaker says “Like me”); “pelted” and “fur” suggest pubic hair; “prickle” suggests “prick”; “gorged” suggests “engorged”; and “pastures spewing infinite tiny bells” suggests an ejaculation. (Noted by Zan700.)

Contra Zan700, I don’t think the speaker’s boyfriend succeeded in hooking her up with “some third guy”, as the wording is “trying to pawn me off” which has the implication that he failed to do so, and the speaker says that on “Saturday we still were paired”. So we have to understand the “You pimp” at the end in some other way, for example, perhaps the speaker feels as if she had been metaphorically pimped to the “gorged pastures”, which loom larger in her memory than “Johnston-baby” does.

Gareth Rees
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  • Wouldn't just trying to pawn her off make him an (unsuccessful) pimp? – Peter Shor Jul 16 '22 at 10:17
  • @PeterShor Yes, in a sense, but not (I think) in a strong enough sense to justify putting "You pimp" in such a significant position in the poem. – Gareth Rees Jul 20 '22 at 12:11
  • I'm inclined to disagree ... my impression is that the poem reads like she wasn't that offended at the time, but then later realized that he was a complete jerk. – Peter Shor Jul 20 '22 at 12:27
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I think the use of the verb sprawling in "Sprawling acreage", and where the lovers lay "sprawled", refer to some sort of disorientation in the whole act of intimacy there. If "pelted", here, is taken as a verb, then it adds to the untidiness of the place; the clover leaves being thrown about. Additionally, the reference to "burr", which is a plant that causes irritation if attached to the body, contributes to the turbulence that characterizes the connection of the lovers. So I guess the reference in the last line must be to the boyfriend itself, whom she despises for his act of trying to "pawn her off", although they continue to remain in this strained relationship.

Kavya
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  • Please explain the specific phrases in the question instead of generalized passage meaning. – bobble Feb 22 '23 at 14:25
  • Hi and welcome to Literature Stack Exchange. Your interpretation may be correct, I haven't checked, but the question is really about the meaning of specific phrases in the poem. Could you please edit your answer to explain the meaning of these phrases? If you can then connect those meanings to your interpretation, your answer should be fine. (If there is no connection, by contrast, it would be best to remove the irrelevant parts from your answer.) – Tsundoku Feb 22 '23 at 14:30
  • Hello, thank you and thanks for the suggestion. I have made some changes in the response with specific reference to the question. Again this is just what I thought about the poem, an observation based on the possible meanings of the terms. :) – Kavya Feb 27 '23 at 07:46