So, using these points discuss some of the poem in relation to Mad Men:

CHARACTER
PLOTLINE
MOTIVATION
SYMBOLISM
CONFLICT
CULTURAL INFLUENCE
ERA IT IS REFLECTING
SOCIAL MORES
IDEOLOGIES

In Season 2, episode one and the final episode we heard Don reciting part of this poem and mailing it to Anna Draper (as it turned out), and the final episode being titled "Meditations in an Emergency".

I was thinking of how this poem relates to the many characters of Mad Men (Don, Rachel, Anna, Betty), and how in the final episode what the emergencies/crises they were all facing in life and love.

I especially liked the portion about beauty, love and appearances:

"It is easy to be beautiful; it is difficult to appear so. I admire you, beloved, for the trap you've set. It's like a final chapter no one reads because the plot is over."

So many of the storylines were about the deception of appearance and what is love. Don's life, in particular, had all the appearances of beauty, love, fulfillment, and yet it certainly was not so and he was finding it to be a trap that he can't escape.

He had loved Betty for what she represented to him: arrival into a social level and life that he aspired to - but could he love Betty for her being, and not just what she "represented"? I think that was something that Don was just discovering as the season ended.

Unfortunately, I have to work today until 9pm PST, so I will have to rejoin the discussion later this evening. But, enjoy everyone, and I'll see you later.

In "Mayakovsky," a poetic homage to a dead Russian poet, Frank O'Hara writes "......my heart is closing like a fist......I'll stare down at my wounded beauty which at best is only a talent for poetry......Cannot please, cannot charm or win, what a poet! ......I embraced a cloud, but when I soared it rained......Now I am quietly waiting for the catastrophe of my personality to seem beautiful again......perhaps I am myself again."

These words describe Don's current emotional crisis accurately, but I wonder why he sent Anna a copy of "Meditations in an Emergency." The poems in the book relate more to him than to her. Does he feel she is his soul mate, the only one who truly understands him? I've always wondered about the relationship between Anna and Don.

Why did Anna decide to accept (and continue) the charade of Dick Whitman masquerading as her dead husband? Wouldn't there have been more security for her in collecting widow's benefits from the government? I suspect she was lonely and fell in love with Dick. If so, what was the nature of their relationship? The real Don Draper was about nine years older than Dick Whitman. In 1950 Dick would have been 24 and Anna perhaps in her early thirties. Not an age difference that would preclude romance.

When Don sent the copy of "Meditations in an Emergency" to Anna" his note said it "reminded me of you." Anna did mention the New York vibe in the poems and said they made her worry about Don, but she seemed emotionally uninvolved. She obviously offers Don tranquility and a form of "happiness" (which "Mad Man" Don is an expert at selling to others). However, he hasn't revealed to Anna any more than he has to about Draper's death and hasn't confided details of his own troubled childhood other than mentioning on the porch that he had a brother that he sent away. Anna asks how old his children are now, indicating that she hasn't heard from Don for a while.

I wish the relationship of Don and Anna had more depth, both factual and emotional. That O'Hara's poetry (specifically the romantic poems in which "Jane" appears) "reminded" Don of Anna struck me as improbable,

While reading "Meditations in an Emergency", I think in relation to Don's character, he was finally faced with a serious crisis in his life which made him reflect on how he handled his crisis with Anna.
Funny enough, he told the truth! The clincher is that he sent her the book and then the opportunity to go to California presented itself immediately and he stole it. He really had no interest in doing any work for SC, he needed time to fiqure out the mess he made with Bett. So now he is pushing out of one life back into another. Dick vs. Don. Doing what he does best, it's all about Don. I don't think Anna has any interest for Don she just wanted to know what happened to her husband. Besides Dick/Don has been taking care of her. Anna just didn't make any waves, but she sure could have caused a stink! Rachel and Betty have learned beauty is not the trump card! They remind me of each other, I think they want to trade places.
Social Mores - People have been pretending since the beginning of time. As we all know everything that looks good, is not necessarily good at all or good for you. It's kinda like that saying that "Charlie thinks Starkist wants tuna with good taste" but in fact Starkist wants tuna that taste good. A lot of people are like that they have all the props outside and an empty inside. Very shallow, the right education, the right clothes, home, etc. Inside they are miserable, kinda like Don & Betty. As for Anna she's just a victim of circumstances. All of them are waiting for the next big thing.

Question not pertaining to this particular discussion...Are we analyzing just the poem "Meditations in an Emergency" or the entire book of poems?

I found a few of the others very fascinating. But I'll save that for later.

TrudyisAnnoying - hey, talk about any or all of O'Hara's poems. The book I got had several, so go for it!

Hi jamm54!

"Meditations" was brand new to me.
I found it interesting that it was not about relaxing thoughts, not about laid back meditations as I always thought of them.

I now understand why Anna told Don it reminded her of New York City.

Thanks for starting this book club! I hope to keep up, and learn a lot!