Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"At Nîmes" by Guillaume Apollinaire reflects a poignant combination of soldierly duty and yearning, encapsulating the internal struggle of a man ensnared in the complexities of war and love. The poem is set against the backdrop of Nîmes, a French city with historical richness, where the speaker is a "carter of the nine cartage." This mundane role contrasts sharply with the "most beautiful of skies" under which he committed himself, alluding perhaps to the romanticized notions of war that are often eclipsed by its grim reality.

The poem captures a palpable tension between duty and desire. "Love says Stay here," captures the voice of an emotion that beckons stillness, yet is countered by "the shells" that "Ardently and relentlessly espouse goals." The poem eloquently portrays the struggle between what the heart wants and what duty demands. The lines "I'm waiting for the spring to command it to go away / Towards the glorious north, the intrepid bleusaille" suggest the speaker's longing for a shift, both literal and metaphoric, away from his current circumstances.

The details of everyday military life emerge through the poem, grounding it in the tangible and quotidian: "The 3 seated servants nod their foreheads," "The territorial eats a salad," "4 pointers fixed the level bubbles." Apollinaire employs these images not just as factual elements but as entry points to explore larger themes. For instance, "4 pointers fixed the level bubbles / Which moved like the eyes of horses" brings an uncanny liveliness to an otherwise inanimate object, reflecting perhaps the restlessness present in all beings caught in the theater of war.

The "little gray cannon" which is as "Gray as the water of the Seine" symbolizes a melancholic link between the duties at hand and the memories of Paris. While the color gray typically evokes dullness or ambiguity, here it acts as a connective thread between two different facets of the speaker's life, triggering a contemplative "dream of Paris."

However, any sense of nostalgia or romanticism is immediately undercut by the lines "But this pale wounded man told me in the canteen / Shells in the night Argentinian splendor." The war is omnipresent, eclipsing personal longings and even geographical boundaries (as suggested by the incongruous "Argentinian splendor").

The poem concludes with the speaker "walking alone at night," chewing his "portion of beef," in solitary contemplation. Yet, there's a slight uplifting turn as he saddles his horse and roams, greeting "beautiful rose, O Magne tower" in the distance. While tethered to his duty, he finds moments of solitude that allow him space to connect with the broader world, reminding him and the reader that while life has its constraints, it also offers spaces of freedom-even if those are merely moments of contemplation and dreaming.

"At Nîmes" serves as an evocative depiction of the internal conflict between duty and personal longing, a poem that acknowledges the complexities of human emotions even in the most restricting circumstances. Through subtle yet emotionally charged language, Apollinaire navigates the nuanced landscape of the human heart, constrained yet not completely subdued by the weight of duty and war.

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