Throughout the poem "Red Shift" by Ted Berrigan, the speaker of the poem sends out the impression of a pensive and pessimistic person of middle age reminiscing; this impression one gets is from the first line’s exact setting of the present time, the changes of time and thoughts, and his lamentation on life in general.
This deep thinking seems evident in the fact that after the 9th line in the poem (I heave/ through it, them, as"), there is no more description of the present place he’s in, but of all the many places he’s been before, with people he’s been with before as well. The speaker’s comments about "twenty years almost ago" and his reminiscing about people of his past show that he’s thinking back to certain periods of time that have nothing to do with the present, as they are past dates.
In the beginning of the poem, at "8:08 p.m.", as the speaker walks down the street, seemingly to the reader almost at ease, he seems to travel with a walk that is "rhythmic". Yet as he goes along, he seems to get more and more frustrated and negative in his views, and almost violent in his thoughts. He wonders, " Who would have thought that I’d be here?", as though he can’t believe where he is in his middle age. The people in his memories seem to have had a profound effect on him, such as "that pretty girl" of "nineteen" who has now entered the time of "careening into middle-age". This is probably a lament for the time having gone by so fast as to have had himself and this girl of his enter their middle stage of life. Another person he recalls is "that practically a boy" whose eyes "penetrate the winter twilight at 6th & Bowery in 1961". He seems to be talking about himself here, or sees a parallel to his own self, as the narrator and this boy are both mentioned to be in the snow at night, only he sees himself as younger in this memory and laments about how he misses his youth. However, a painter seems to have had the most profound effect of all on the speaker. The speaker, from their "very first meeting" never will leave him alone until each "vanishes into thin air" they "signed up for". This painter will in turn "never leave" him, "not for sex, nor politics, nor even stupid permanent estrangement" of which is only the "human lot, and means nothing". This painter seems to have been a best friend of the speaker, who made these promises only to have them turn out untrue, and this seems to anger him by his excessive repeating of how they will never leave each other. The speaker seems to look back and feel naïve.
The speaker then goes on to mention the song "California Dreaming" from his subconscious. He states that he would not do what the song implies. The song is about how it is too cold in the winter and that the warmth of another place, such as California, would be better. There are parallels between the person in the song and the speaker of "Red Shift"; they are both walking on a winter’s day, and they are both daydreaming in their own ways. Yet while the song’s ultimate statement is sunshine and youth and happiness, the speaker of the poem seems against the warmth and happiness of dreams. He seems to be reveling in his coldness and depression. He feels too old at forty-three to daydream about bigger and better things, and takes in only the coldness of what he’s seen in the world.
The speaker even goes on to confirm his wallowing in misery. He states that he will never die, and that he is a "ghost" despite his frame, a "spirit/ Who lives only to nag". His explanation of a ghost seems to be someone who never dies, and never escapes his fate of nagging, or finding fault to complain constantly. Again, he is being haunted by his age, which is evident by how many times he talks about never dying. He sees himself as a ghost, trapped in his frame, while his spirit lives on hating everything and wanting to be set free. He seems immune to changing what he is, "and that’s that.//"
In the end, he sums up his life as "alone & crowded", with an "unhappy fate", as the "world’s furious song flows through" his "costume". With this depressing ending, you can clearly see how unhappy this speaker truly is. He’s lost in a world of middle age, reminiscing of sad memories that won’t go away, and seems to be trapped within himself, unable to escape. He is taking all the sadness of the world into himself and is suffering for it.
The speaker of this poem, walking down the street, is taking in all of the sadness of what’s around him and what’s viewed through his eyes. His memories, as he is indeed reminiscing, are upsetting him because it’s reminding him of the sadness that is in the world; the things he cannot change or stop from happening (like the "love, children hundreds of them, money, marriage ethics" that he feels or sees by day, "burning even or still" ). Being of middle age, these things have a profound effect on him as he finally takes an interest in them and realizes how naïve he has been in his younger years.

Descriptions of Lucien Freud's Artwork

Girl With Leaves
The adolescent girl’s eyes are what draw me first and foremost to the picture. They have a look of subtle horror, disbelief, and somewhat acceptance about something. Something that is either not in the picture, or something that she is thinking about. I think the latter, because she seems a bit unfocused, looking beyond everything into her own mind. The eyes are like a colorless color, kind of brownish, kind of gray, and yet not. These eyes are overly large and wide. They are not quite right. They are sort of asymmetrical, perhaps? She has shadows under her eyes. Her whole being is a bit shadowed. Her eyelashes are black. Her eyebrows are dark and thin, and hardly arched. Her skin is colorless, not gray, white, black, peach, or tan. Her skin is glowing. Her lips are a bit wide. They are also not of a normal color. Not peach, or rosy, or brown, but a combination with gray perhaps? The center of her lips is the same color as her skin. Colorless. Her hair is the same color as her eyes, a brownish grayish color. She has a bobby pin holding back her hair in the front. This is on the left side as we look at it, and on her right of the head as she’s facing us. Her hair is bushy and wavy, with little stray hairs visibly standing up at odd angles all over her head. Her whole face is almost gaunt and yet healthy enough that it isn’t quite, and her face is long and outlines with black and white, as though to make it stand out against everything. Which it does. Her chin is square. She is wearing a v-neck shirt. The picture is cut off before the bottom of the v. The shirt has a navy blue collar. The shirt is navy blue and white stripes. These stripes are not very wide or far away from one another. The amount of sleeve we see is navy blue on both sides, starting at the shoulder. There are light green leaves over her head and partially over her face, mainly her forehead. They are all shaped irregularly. They are sharp and ragged at the ends. There are five leaves in total. Five stems in total. The branch they’re on is green and brown with little brown bumps upon them. The background is gray and white combined and almost the same color as the skin of the girl in the picture.

Interior at Paddington
My eye is first drawn to the man in this picture, as he is positioned in such a strange way. His hands are both clutching something. On hand is lightly holding a cigarette between the index and middle fingers. This hand is held against his stomach. His other hand is curled up, palm towards the viewer, clutching something tightly within his grasp. Something unseen. He is wearing a large, long, unbuttoned tan or olive overcoat with three buttons. He is wearing what looks to be a shirt and vest underneath. The shirt is white with a collar and buttons, and the vest is gray. His pants look to be a brownish color. They are rolled up a bit at the bottom. He is wearing black shoes. They have dulled reflections of light in them. His legs are spread apart as he stands. His neck is a bit long, and looks to be toned and muscled slightly. His face is almost square shaped, his chin with a cleft in it. His lips are closed tightly, though the corners look like they are upturned the slightest bit, so he is almost smirking a bit. He has large round glasses over his eyes, and the frames are thin and black. His nose is a bit large. His eyebrows show up over his glasses and are slightly think and arched. Half of his face is shadowed. His ears slick out slightly. His hair is short and thin and light brown it seems. It sticks up everywhere, especially on the right side, his left. He looks to be in his late 20’s or his thirties. His eyes are sort of concealed behind his glasses, but he seems to be looking ahead of him at the unruly plant before him. There are many long, pointed leaves sticking up every which way. They are all a greenish, brownish, yellowish color. Below these top leaves are leaves that stick straight down. They seem darker, mostly brown. You then see the brown trunk of the tree. There are more unruly leaves sticking out, though in a smaller quantity, towards the back of the tree. Then where the trunk meets the soil, there are even more of these same leaves, in the front of the tree. The soil in the standard brown pot below is brown. They are both upon a bright red carpet. At the front of this carpet, the carpet is wrinkled and the brown hardwood floor beneath shows. The walls of the room they are standing in are gray. They are both standing before a large rectangular window to the right of the picture. The windowpane is white. It seems to lead to a balcony with a curved black fence. The room they are in is apparently high up. You can see a yellowish building across. You can also see some trees without leaves. The light from the outside floods into the room. It is a dull light, as the outside is overtaken by a gray sky.

Ib and Her Husband
I am taken into this picture by the desperate closeness of the man and woman in this picture. The man in the picture has his arm draped completely around his wife’s form from behind. They are lying on a bed sleeping. The man has a black shirt on that is cut off just under the elbow. His arm is heavily veined and muscled. He is wearing light blue jeans that look to have various rips all over them. The man looks to be middle aged due to the slight wrinkles covering his tanned face. His face is upturned. His ear is red and his dark hair is shortly cropped. He has a thin mustache on his upper lip, which is opened slightly. His face is oily and shadowed all around. He has a look of contentment on his face. His hand is sticking up between himself and his wife. This hand is gnarled and a bit red at the knuckles. The woman is sleeping as well, with a smile on his face. Her lips are pinkish and the teeth show white between her lips. She looks to be middle aged as well, with her pallid skin full of slight wrinkles. Her closed eyelids are brownish and her eyebrows are raised, giving her a look of contentment as well. Her hair looks brownish gray and slightly wavy. Her face is also shadowed in areas. Her hands are under her cheek. They are shiny and mostly red, especially at the palms and fingers. She is wearing a long sleeved shirt that looks to be either orange or pink, or most likely, a mixture of both. She looks to be a bit full around the middle. She is wearing a white skirt with mixed black patterns. The skirt stops above her knees. Her legs are curled up, almost as though she fell asleep in the fetal position. Her bare legs are pink in spots, and shiny. The picture cuts off at their shins. They are both resting their heads upon a long gray pillow. They are both laying upon what looks to be a dark brown, fuzzy blanket atop their mattress. You can see a partial brown, metallic, curved bedpost at the head of their bed. Behind their sleeping forms is a gray metallic radiator. The wall is completely distorted by filthy colors of brown, black, gray, white, yellow, and red. However, one spot on the wall below the colors and to the left of the picture is just a plain regular yellow.

Reflection With Two Children (Self Portrait)
In this picture, I look to the man first, most notably his face and the position he is in. His face looks slightly distorted. The painting is focused on this man and he is looking down at the viewer. His face is heavily wrinkled and gaunt and long, though he looks to be only a little bit past middle age, if not in his middle aged years. He looks completely worn down. His eyes are asymmetrical and either completely closed or slightly open. It is difficult to tell. You could probably see up his nose if it wasn’t so shadowed. His lips are slightly smirking in contempt and are distorted. His lips seem to be pointing up to the right on the right side, so his smile is asymmetrical. His ears stick out. His hair is sticking up, the front slightly curled over his forehead. His chin is completely shadowed. The rest of his face is pale, though shadowed in places. He is wearing a gray suit. There is a button on the sleeve. His hand is wrapped around his stomach. His hand looks odd… as though missing his pinky finger. His hand is slightly gnarled. The picture cuts off at the top of the man’s thighs. The front of his pants is shadowed by his suit jacket. Where his thighs cut off there is a gray line with a dark line of indiscernible color above it, and yet the children in the picture on the left are cut off below these lines. There are two children, one a girl and one a boy. They are at the left of the picture and are much smaller than the man. They are looking ahead and not down, though they still look at the viewer. The girl on the right of the boy is blonde. She is pale with a red tint on the right side of her face. Her eyes appear to be blue. She is frowning and looks quite sad. Her frown is not centered, but to the left. Her head is tilted to the right. She has on a dark green long sleeved shirt. The boy next to her is taller with light brown hair. He is also pale with red cheeks. He has a rather frightening smile on his face. It looks a bit distorted and evil. His nose is pointed and his eye color is unknown. His shirt is dark and opened at the collar. It is long sleeved. The picture cuts off at the middle of their stomachs. The whole background is a void of gray above them all. There are two ceiling lamps. One appears above the man. It is golden and circular with a light bulb within it. It is partially cut off by the man. The other lamp is a bit further away from the man and is cut off by him and the lines at the bottom of the pictures. It is similar to the first lamp.