Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"The Refugees" by Randall Jarrell is a haunting depiction of a journey of desperation and loss, perhaps alluding to the dislocation wrought by war or some other catastrophic event. The poem captures the grim atmosphere within a "shabby train" filled with refugees whose faces are described as vacant, possibly numbed by the trauma they have experienced. The child in a "ripped mask," symbolic of innocence tainted by violence, sprawls "in the waste / Of the smashed compartment." The question asked is provocative: "Is their calm extravagant?"

Jarrell uses the term "extravagant" in a manner that is both ironic and poignant. In this context, the term usually associated with excess or luxury becomes a chilling marker of the refugees' hollowed-out existence. The poem raises unsettling questions: what had they traded for this life of ruin? What had they possessed that led them to this point? The very suggestion that the refugees had anything to trade mocks the bleak reality they are now submerged in.

The image of the child's "dried blood" sparkling "along the mask" is jarring and emphasizes the visceral loss experienced. This child had "yesterday possessed / A country welcomer than this." The phrase "yesterday possessed" resonates with the fleeting nature of stability and belonging. The poem subtly leads us to question whether such a welcoming country ever existed for these refugees, or if it's just a nostalgia-tinted mirage of a past now obliterated.

As the poem progresses, it delves deeper into existential questions, asking whether the refugees find the cost of their current lives "extravagant." Jarrell suggests that the refugees couldn't find the cost extravagant because they have given all they possessed; their purses, and by extension their lives, are vacant. The last stanza concludes with a haunting idea: "What else are their lives but a journey to the vacant / Satisfaction of death?" The refugees are wearing a "mask" that serves as a rehearsal for death, an ultimate form of vacancy.

The poem disquietingly posits that perhaps this is all that they-or any of us-can expect. The closing lInesecho with a ghastly introspection: "What is there we possessed / That we were unwilling to trade for this?" The existential underpinning of the poem challenges us to consider the impermanence of our own possessions, our own sense of home, and indeed, our own lives.

In "The Refugees," Jarrell masterfully uses ironic language, stark imagery, and existential questions to grapple with the human condition in its darkest hours. The poem brings into focus the often-ignored experiences of refugees, making the reader confront the horror and emptiness that follow dislocation and loss. The emotional weight of the poem lies in its ability to universalize this suffering, leaving the reader to contemplate the inherent precariousness of human existence.

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