Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Randall Jarrell's "Aesthetic Theories Art" is a meditation on the nature of art, specifically poetry, exploring how it mirrors life and yet possesses a dimension that transcends immediate experience. The poem serves as a dialogue between the internal world of the artist and the external world that seeks to interpret, contain, and even commodify art.

The poem opens with a statement that resonates profoundly: "Poems, like lives, are doing what we can / And very different from what we know." Here, Jarrell makes a fundamental distinction between 'doing' and 'knowing.' This line draws attention to the chasm that often exists between the lived experience and intellectual understanding-both of which are integral parts of human existence, yet often fail to converge.

Jarrell likens the creative process to an organic, almost biological function-"They start surprisingly, like blood in bones." There's a raw vitality in these lInesthat implies that poems, like lives, are born out of necessity. The poet then dives into a grim analogy about the "unlucky" who "wake up bleeding at the nose" and eventually die, as opposed to poets who "thrive on it." This metaphorical bleeding stands for the intense emotional and existential states that could either cripple us or fuel our creativity, depending on our internal disposition and resilience.

However, Jarrell reminds us that this isn't the entire story: "It would be nice if this were all." He seems to imply that this intrinsic creativity is not just a thing of beauty or a source of empowerment but is subject to the judgments, categorizations, and even perversions of society. When "Dried, or preserved in jars, and certified / By experts of some bureau of the State," the blood of life and art loses its rawness and becomes a relic, a historical artifact, a thing to be dissected for understanding or exhibited for public scrutiny.

The line about "A Chair of Paleohaemolysis" introduces another layer to the poem: the academization of human experiences and feelings, a phenomenon that drains the raw energy out of them, making them subjects of sterile, intellectual discussions.

Towards the end, the poem dives into a contemplation about the ultimate "ground of everything," postulating that neither "blood" nor "tears" capture the essence of human experience, but rather "pain" and "evil" constitute the raw material from which both life and art spring forth. The phrase "the Cause / The humblest of our cries comes huddling from" suggests that the deepest impulse for art and life is an instinctive, primal response to existential conditions.

Lastly, Jarrell grapples with the question of artistic determinism, acknowledging that art, much like life, is shaped by unseen, unknowable forces-"the determiners / That smoke like dry ice from the witches' brew." Yet, the ultimate impact of a poem lies in its ability to evoke a visceral response in the reader-"To call the hair up on another age."

"Aesthetic Theories Art" serves as an eloquent exploration of the complexities surrounding the creation, interpretation, and ultimately, the very essence of art and life. By weaving together various themes and employing rich imagery, Jarrell crafts a poem that serves both as an intellectual treatise and an emotive experience.

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