Two-Headed Poems by Margaret Atwood
"Two-Headed Poems" by Margaret Atwood explores the complex relationship between Canada and the United States, metaphorically represented as "two deaf singers" engaged in a duet rather than a debate. The titular poem reflects on the challenges Canada faces as a neighbor to a dominant world power, highlighting themes of identity, language, and political influence. Atwood uses the imagery of Siamese twins to illustrate the intertwined yet distinct identities of the two nations, showcasing moments where their voices overlap and diverge.
The poem critiques the leadership of both countries, particularly focusing on an American president from the Vietnam era, while also interrogating the effects of American culture on Canadian identity. Atwood poses questions about linguistic ownership, suggesting that the Canadian experience is being shaped by an overwhelming American influence, leading to a passive acceptance of Americanization. Despite this, there is a yearning for autonomy and a desire for action, represented by a longing for "verbs" that signify movement and change.
Ultimately, "Two-Headed Poems" presents a poignant commentary on the difficulties of communication and identity in a world marked by proximity yet hindered by disconnection, leaving the reader with a sense of the futility in the pursuit of harmonious dialogue between these two nations.
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Two-Headed Poems by Margaret Atwood
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1978 (collected in Two-Headed Poems, 1978)
Type of work: Poem
The Work
The title poem of Two-Headed Poems is, according to the speaker, “not a debate/ but a duet/ with two deaf singers.” In fact, the poem concerns the problems of being a Canadian neighbor to a world power whose corrupt values are expressed in the “duet.” Like the Siamese twins, described as “joined head to head, and still alive,” the United States and Canada are awkwardly joined: “The heads speak sometimes singly, sometimes/ together, sometimes alternately within a poem.” At times, it is clear which country speaks, but not always, for the two countries do share, however reluctantly, some characteristics. The leaders of both countries are criticized, though the leader who “is a monster/ sewn from dead soldiers” is an American president of the Vietnam era, a recurrent motif in the poem. Yet Atwood is as concerned about language as she is with actions, the nonverbal gestures. One “head” asks, “Whose language/ is this anyway?” The corruption of Canadian English, itself a political act, stems from the passive nature of a people content to be Americanized, to shut down “the family business” that was “too small anyway/ to be, as they say, viable.” The Canadians whose identity comes from “down there” in the United States are associated with “nouns,” but they are also hostile (the candy hearts become “snipers”) and impatient to act on their own:
Our dreams though
The Canadian head calls for action to complete the sentence by combining with nouns, and the resultant language should not be a political statement, but a celebratory song, a “double” that transcends borders. The dreams of freedom are, however, only futile dreams, and the closing images are of being “mute” and of “two deaf singers.” Communication between the two “heads” is, by definition, impossible, and Atwood clearly implies that the American/Canadian coupling that impedes both countries is an aberration of nature.
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