Variations on the Word Sleep By Margaret Atwood In Variations on the Word Sleep the narrator of the poem immediately addresses his/her conscience need to connect with the other person, and they also recognize the hopelessness of this goal: "I would like to watch you sleeping, which may not happen"(1-2). The opening to the poem, as we see here, could be considered typical of Atwood's writing in the sense that one person longs …showed first 75 words of 710 total…

…showed last 75 words of 710 total…air "I would like to be the air that inhabits you"(27-28). The poem "Variations of the Word Sleep" is an excellent example of Atwood's talent for revealing feelings of separations and also for showing the romance in giving up ones' own identity for the sake of love. This theme is not typical to what the public would consider ruthlessly feminist, but Atwood's writings redefine the realms of what women desire and deserve in love.