Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

George Oppen's "If It All Went Up In Smoke" deals with the elemental issues of creation and dissolution, embodying an existential grappling with being and non-being. The poem commences with a stark assertion: "that smoke / would remain." This implies a reality independent of human existence, a world that endures irrespective of our perception or conceptualization. The image of "smoke" also connotes transience, suggesting the ephemeral nature of all things.

Oppen refers to "the forever / savage country poem's light borrowed." Here, the concept of 'forever' is tied to a 'savage country,' possibly indicative of the untamed, unadulterated reality that lies beyond human constructs. The poem itself is described as borrowing its light from this landscape, implying that poetic expression is a reflection, not an original source of illumination.

The enigmatic lines "light of the landscape and one's footprints praise / from distance / in the close / crowd all" further amplify the tension between individual and collective existence. Footprints serve as markers of individual passage but fade into collective history with distance. In a crowd, all individual experiences and histories coalesce, becoming 'strange' yet inseparable sources feeding into the greater human narrative.

The crux of the poem revolves around the lines "the poem begins / neither in word / nor meaning but the small / selves haunting / us in the stones." Oppen suggests that the genesis of a poem, or perhaps of any meaningful endeavor, lies not in language or rational thought but in the haunting, inchoate 'small selves' within us and the external world. It's as if these 'small selves' are the foundational particles of reality, residing even in the inanimate, evoking a sort of panpsychism.

The section "help me I am / of that people the grass / blades touch / and touch in their small / distances" acts as a plea for understanding and connection. The speaker recognizes a kinship not just with humanity but also with nature, acknowledging a communal life-force that exists in the smallest of distances and the most mundane of interactions.

The final lines, "the poem / begins," serve as a reminder that the journey of understanding and articulation is perpetual. The poem itself is not a closed system but an ongoing process of engagement with the complexities of existence.

The poem lacks a conventional structure, appearing almost fragmentary. The lines are short, almost gasping for breath, and the verses are irregularly shaped, which conveys a sense of instability or transience. The structure is far from arbitrary; it serves to amplify the themes of the poem, deepens its ambiguities, and makes the act of reading a participatory endeavor. It pushes the reader to engage more actively with the text, filling in the gaps and uncertainties with their interpretations, thus becoming a co-creator of meaning.

George Oppen's sparse and enigmatic language allows for manifold interpretations, but one could argue that "If It All Went Up In Smoke" is fundamentally a meditation on the intricacies of existence, communication, and artistic creation. It confronts the transient and the eternal, the individual and the collective, and the articulate and the ineffable, all in the quest for a deeper understanding of what it means to be a part of this perplexing, beautiful reality.

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