Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Impossible to Tell" is a poem by American poet Robert Pinsky. It was first published in his 1990 collection "The Want Bone". The poem deals with the topic of memory and how it can be distorted over time.

Explanation:

The poem is split into four stanzas, each with four lines. In the first stanza, the speaker describes how certain memories can become "translucent" over time, making them impossible to fully grasp. The second stanza describes how the speaker has attempted to recapture certain memories, but finds that they are "unpindownable" and "refuse to stay fixed".

The third stanza shifts to a description of a photograph, which the speaker says captures a moment "more perfectly than memory ever could". The fourth and final stanza brings the poem to a close, with the speaker reflecting on the nature of memory and how it can never truly be recaptured.

Poetic Elements:

• Form: The poem consists of four stanzas, each with four lines.
• Imagery: The poem uses vivid and sensory language to describe memories and the photograph.
• Metaphor: The poem uses the metaphor of memory as something "translucent" and difficult to grasp.
• Enjambment: The lines of the poem often run into each other, creating a sense of flow and continuity.

Conclusion:

"Impossible to Tell" is a thought-provoking poem that explores the nature of memory and its relationship to reality. Through vivid imagery and metaphor, Pinsky captures the elusiveness of memory and the struggle to recapture it. The use of enjambment adds to the sense of flow and fluidity in the poem, echoing the way memories can blur and blend together over time.

Poem Snippet:

"Memory is not unlike

Cigarette smoke or shifting

Fog where things seen at a distance

Merge, impossible to tell apart"

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