Summary
In "Basket of Figs," the speaker addresses her lover and tells her to bring her pain to the speaker. The lover is instructed to spread out her pain like a fine and valuable material (rugs and silk sashes), a meal of warm eggs, or a sack of cinnamon and cloves. The speaker wants to see in great detail what her lover's pain looks and feels like. These details are compared to beautiful needlework and the materiality of clothing: "the intricate embroidery / on the collar" and "tiny shell buttons." The speaker observes that the metaphorical hem of the lover's pain is stitched in a way that just pricks the thread. This means that the lover's pain is almost invisible to most people.
The speaker continues to ask her lover to divulge her pain by unfastening the pain like precious jewelry still warm from being worn. The speaker encourages her lover to "Empty / [her] basket of figs" and to "Spill [her] wine:" to not fear luxury, extravagance, and what is deemed as wasteful. The speaker is willing to suck on her lover's "hard nugget of pain" the way one cradles a pomegranate seed on the tongue. In the final stanza of the poem, the speaker says that she would handle her lover's pain tenderly, the way that a large animal safely carries a smaller one in the shelter of the mouth.
Analysis
In her poem "Basket of Figs," Ellen Bass applies materiality and sensuality to the concepts of pain and love. The poem is both instructional and erotic as the speaker tells her lover to lay bare her pain using different vivid metaphors. Though "Basket of Figs" may be relatable to any reader who has loved and cared for another human being, the context for this poem and for the entire collection is the celebration of a lesbian relationship between middle-aged women.
In the first stanza, the speaker tells her lover to bring over her pain and spread it out "like fine rugs, silk sashes, / warm eggs, cinnamon, / and cloves in burlap sacks." The poem is written in free verse, and the use of imperatives such as "Bring me" and "Spread / it" places syllabic emphasis on the order being given. This characterizes the speaker as a confident authority figure who is capable of providing stability and love for her partner.
The comparisons to materials, food, and spices engage with the reader's senses. For example, the sibilance of "silk sashes" evokes this fabric's softness, and the mention of warm eggs, cinnamon, and cloves stimulates a bodily appetite. The roughness of burlap sacks contrasts with the delicacy of the spices they carry, which could metaphorically represent the emotional armor one builds to protect oneself. Through this metaphor, the speaker asks her lover to do away with any emotional armor and allow for vulnerability and intimacy in the relationship.
In the second stanza, the speaker zooms in in great detail to metaphorically examine the stitchwork of her lover's pain. The speaker wants to see "the intricate embroidery / on the collar," which means that she wants to take her time and look very closely at all the pain her partner carries inside herself. The metaphorical clothing of the partner's pain has "tiny shell buttons," which suggests a natural elegance and resilience. The purpose of clothing is to be worn, but it also serves as a form of self-expression. The comparison made between pain and clothing suggests that pain also covers and adorns the body. The speaker does not recoil from her lover's pain—throughout the poem, she describes her lover's pain using beautiful, luxurious, or comforting imagery. This suggests that the speaker loves every aspect of her partner (including her pain) unconditionally.
The speaker states that the hem of her partner's metaphorical clothing reflects the way the partner was taught to stitch: by "pricking just a thread, almost invisible." The careful construction of this pain perhaps causes it to be imperceivable to most people. This also suggests that the clothing was not just made by other people, which partially places responsibility on the partner for the creation of her own pain. However, the speaker does not cast her lover within the binary of victim or perpetrator. Rather, the speaker offers an alternative: for her lover to share everything that hurts her in order to strengthen their relationship. This both dignifies the partner's pain and reminds the partner that she has a choice to create love and joy in her life and her relationship.
While the first two stanzas are quatrains, the third stanza and onward are tercets. The arrangement of this poem into stanzas reflects the way the speaker is providing some structure to the relationship by inviting her partner to share her pain. But beyond the arrangement into quatrains and then tercets, there is no strict formal arrangement in the poem. The speaker does not aim to control her partner by providing these instructions, but rather to offer a place of safety and freedom within the relationship.
The speaker tells her lover to "Unclasp" her pain "like jewels." Thus far, this is the most blatant representation of pain as something beautiful and valuable, which is not a common perspective. The speaker in "Basket of Figs" does not see her partner's pain as a weakness or as something to be avoided at all costs, which is a common perspective on pain. Instead, "the gold" of the lover's pain is "still hot from [her] body." This metaphor engages both the visual and tactile senses. That it is still hot from being worn suggests that this pain is freshly felt.
In the lines that give the poem its title, the speaker tells her partner to "Empty / your basket of figs. Spill your wine." Figs and wine can be considered luxurious, but the speaker does not tell her lover to save them for a special occasion. Instead, this is an invitation to indulge in and savor something sweet. The line "spill your wine" suggests that the speaker does not want her lover to act perfectly polite all the time.
Continuing with the metaphor of eating and drinking, the speaker tells her partner that she would suck on her partner's "hard nugget of pain." This is an erotic metaphor that alludes to both eating and sex. Within either implication, this act involves the speaker placing a part of her partner inside herself in order to soften it. The speaker compares this to cradling a pomegranate seed on her tongue. The mention of figs and then pomegranates evokes changing seasons, as figs are eaten in late summer and early autumn, and pomegranates come into season during fall and winter. This suggests that no matter the season of life they are in, the speaker will be there for her partner.
In the final stanza of the poem, the speaker tells her lover that she would tenderly lift her lover's pain "as a great animal might / carry a small one in the private / cave of the mouth. This image is powerful but unspecific; it does not state what kind of animals are being portrayed, nor does it reveal the relationship between these animals. However, the word "tenderly" suggests that the relationship is one of care rather than a predator and prey dynamic. The phrase "private / cave" portrays the mouth as a place of safety and freedom. The mouth not only allows for eating and drinking, but also for speaking. This suggests that the words coming from the speaker's mouth (the words of the poem itself) create a safe place for the speaker's lover. Overall, the comparison to animals in this last stanza suggests that it is the speaker's natural instinct to care for her lover and "carry" her in times of need.
