Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

John Ashbery's "Pantoum" is a meditation on the cyclical nature of memory, time, and loss, expertly framed within the traditional poetic form from which the poem takes its name. The Pantoum is characterized by its repetitive structure, where lines are recycled from stanza to stanza. This form aptly serves Ashbery's exploration, allowing him to present ideas as both stagnant and evolving, fixed in place yet prone to shifts in meaning and context.

The poem opens with "Eyes shining without mystery," immediately establishing an enigmatic atmosphere where visibility and clarity do not necessarily offer understanding. This sets the stage for the recurring "Footprints eager for the past," a motif that becomes increasingly haunting as the poem unfurls. The footprints, like the past itself, seem determined to reclaim their previous state, even as they are smudged and distorted "through the vague snow of many clay pipes." Here, the "clay pipes" might symbolize the muddling agents in our life-habits, preconceptions, or even physical objects-that distort our memories and experiences.

"And what is in store / For those dearest to the king?" the poem inquires, introducing a royal-or perhaps authoritarian-element. The repeated phrase "The usual obtuse blanket" serves as an indifferent, almost bureaucratic answer to the question of destiny. This blanket could signify the inescapable swath of circumstances or perhaps societal norms that enwrap even those "dearest to the king." It's as if their proximity to power doesn't shield them from life's unavoidable complexities, tagged here as "legless regrets and amplifications."

As the pantoum form dictates, lines recur but often with different neighbors, much like how memories shift when juxtaposed against new experiences or perspectives. "Yes, sirs, connoisseurs of oblivion," reads like an ironic salute to those who find comfort in forgetfulness or ignorance, potentially those who hide under the "obtuse blanket."

The intriguing line, "That is why a watchdog is shy," introduces the idea that even the guardians of truth or morality are reluctant in an uncertain world. "These days are short, brittle; there is only one night / And that soon gotten over," reinforces a sense of impending closure, perhaps an end to the world that both the king and the connoisseurs inhabit.

In the final lines, the poem comes full circle, revisiting the "eyes shining without mystery" and "the vague snow of many clay pipes." But now, these lines resonate with the weight of the preceding stanzas. It's a culmination that underlines the cyclical, repetitive nature of life's perplexities, encased in a form that itself enacts this endless cycle.

The poem, therefore, serves as an elaborate structure that entraps and recycles its own lines and motifs, much like how humans are trapped in their habits, memories, and societal roles. The pantoum form thus acts not just as a stylistic choice, but as a meta-commentary on the poem's themes, making Ashbery's "Pantoum" a layered, complex piece that invites repeated readings.

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