"Cassandra" is Louise Bogan's eight-line stanza of alternate rhymes which features the Trojan prophetess of the same name who was given the gift of vision. Due to this gift, Cassandra felt an unbearable burden - speaking truth without proof and being alienated from other women. The clairvoyance serves as both a gift and curse for Cassandra.
Through Cassandra, Bogan found her voice. Cassandra's isolation serves as a painful reminder of her being cut off from her poet-friends. During the 1930's a number of her poet-friends supported the left. Bogan refused to politicize her poetry. She believes art should be separated from politics. Art is a higher, more idealistic pursuit than politics. She sees her friends who deviated from that call as people who are weak both emotionally and intellectually.
Even before this perceived defection occurred, Bogan experienced a lot of personal battles which led to her depression. Her first marriage did not work and was forced to raise her daughter alone and penniless. Her second marriage also ended in divorce. The only consolation though is that during the 1920s to 30s when her marriage was in utter turmoil she wrote her finest pieces. Her struggles had brought forth her innermost emotions making her poems more effective.
Another parallelism in Cassandra and the poet's life lies in the fact that both did not choose the gift that sets them apart from other men. Bogan in her poetic genius is separated from society in the course of pursuing her art and work. A poet needs to be alone in order to stimulate creativity. Cassandra, on the other hand, because of the terrible burden she felt on the gift of vision, she feels ostracized by society. The author could see herself in Cassandra as she struggles to cope with the forces beyond her control. This is one of the fate they shared being visionaries.
Cassandra depicts the poet's own reservations about conforming to what is the common consensus. Bogan's reputation as a poet of reserve may present an ambiguous image on the innate furor of her own vision. Yet through poetry and particularly in Cassandra she chooses a more subtle means to express this non-conformist streak in her "song, like a wing, tears". Bogan through the depth of her language in Cassandra was probably expressing her capacity of being bold and different. This is probably where Cassandra is distant from the poet. Unlike Cassandra who openly expresses her woes, Bogan leads a very private life and refuses to divulge her inner struggles. She is more likely to keep her feelings to herself and not share it with others. She felt isolated from her poet-friends because of the non-conformist views she held. Cassandra is not afraid to bemoan her fate. She is probably the bolder self that the poet always wants to attain. In her, Bogan sees a more courageous version of herself which she unconsciously strives for.
Ironically, both strength and weakness lie at the root of Cassandra's gift of prophecy just like Bogan's gift of poetry. Cassandra is chosen for divinity yet not exempt from the crippling effect of suffering, strengthened with song but ignored by all. Yet from this same song she obtains her power. Bogan may felt that her poems isolated her from the women of her times and even to her poet-friends but ironically this same curse is the very gift that liberates her voice just like Cassandra.
