Once you have explored the poems of The Unfastening, return to the Map of Wesley McNair’s Journey in Revision page and take up some of the following questions, which link the map to McNair’s intentions as he developed the themes of his book.
- In the second book manuscript, McNair has changed the title of his collection from The Longing to See to The Unfastening. Why is the latter title more appropriate for the collection?
- Like McNair’s book title, each of the section titles is derived from a poem that has a central meaning. How do the title poems express the themes of their sections?
- Compare the poem list of McNair’s first book manuscript to the final list of the publisher’s proof, entry four. What poems have been added in the process of revision, and how do those poems expand the book’s vision. Concentrate on sections two and four.
- In book manuscript three McNair has added a new section, “The Longing To See,” which deals with art, and a variety of artists and makers. How does this section open the way from darkness to affirmation in The Unfastening, transforming the imagery of darkness, and of sight?
- Among the last poems written for The Unfastening, part of the “burst of inspiration” McNair mentions in his interview, are two at the very end of the collection: “Praise Song” and “Benediction.” These affirmative poems show the distance the book has come from its opening poems about death and loss. How do the last three poems of the book answer the earlier poems, altering our understanding of death and loss?