Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Saying It to Keep It From Happening," by John Ashbery, unfolds as a contemplative, intricate exploration of consciousness, temporality, and the elusive nature of experience. Ashbery's voice, both ruminative and quietly unsettling, speaks to the paradoxes inherent in living a life tethered to time and yet almost unfathomable in its complexity.

From the very first line, "Some departure from the norm / Will occur as time grows more open about it," the poem establishes an atmosphere of inescapable change. Time here is not just a linear dimension; it seems almost sentient, "open about" altering the norm. The consciousness of time's passing becomes an event in itself, altering not just circumstances but the fabric of our being: "Rust dark pouring / Over the body, changing it without decay."

The speaker addresses the human tendency to live "in the interstices," somewhere between existential quandaries and the mundane aspects of life like "a vacant stare and the ceiling." It's in these overlooked gaps that the poem suggests we truly exist. This is not a panorama of grand events but a spotlight on the incidental and the momentary, things that "our lives remind us" about.

The poem then tackles the concept of collective consciousness, saying "And the other livers of it get off at the same stop." In this shared journey of life, Ashbery remarks on the irony of individualism. No matter the singularity of our experiences, we all ultimately "travel the same distance." What differentiates us is our investment in time and how we perceive and handle events.

The phrase "Crossing the street of an event, as though coming out of it were / The same as making it happen," speaks volumes about the illusory nature of agency. Do we really make things happen, or are we merely passive observers mistaking consequence for causality?

The line "You're not sorry, / Of course, especially if this was the way it had to happen," points to a deterministic perspective, suggesting that things unfold as they must, a viewpoint that offers a resigned sense of comfort. However, Ashbery does not leave us complacent; he provokes us to desire "an exacter share," a more precise understanding of time and existence.

The poem's conclusion turns toward a kind of wistful resignation, acknowledging the fragmented understanding we have of our own lives: "It is a long field, and we know only the far end of it, / Not the part we presumably had to go through to get there." It subtly bemoans the human condition, restricted by its limited perspective, always yearning for the completeness of understanding that forever eludes us.

"Saying It to Keep It From Happening" serves as an eloquent testament to the complexity of human experience. It makes us ponder on the transitory and elusive nature of existence, and our constant battle to understand and quantify it. The poem is a rich landscape that exists "both there / And not there," a nuanced depiction of life's uncertainties and the human quest to reconcile them. It holds a mirror to our own fragmented selves, challenging us to confront the often uncomfortable contradictions of our existence.

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