Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Vetiver" by John Ashbery delves into the complexities of time, transformation, and the human experience through evocative imagery and metaphorical devices. The poem conjures a realm where time passes "like a load of hay," bringing with it shades of nostalgia and evanescent beauty, suggesting a landscape shaped not just by human civilization but also by emotional and philosophical reflections.

From the opening lines, the poem establishes a mythical yet grounded setting where "flowers recited their lines / And pike stirred at the bottom of the pond." These images, pastoral yet surreal, bring a lyrical dimension to the slow passage of time. There's a stillness in the scenery, reflected in the cool touch of the "pen," a symbol perhaps of the poetic endeavor itself. This sense of calm contrasts sharply with the implied emotional turbulence that the poem will explore.

The staircase that "swept upward / Through fragmented garlands" serves as a metaphor for life's journey, which moves toward an ambiguous destination but is often hindered by "melancholy / Already distilled in letters of the alphabet." Here, language itself becomes a vessel for existential woes, encoded in the very alphabets that form words. The passage of seasons, from some unspecified time to winter, is described in textures that evoke both the beauty and decay associated with aging-"spun-sugar / Palaces" and "lines of care" equally part of its landscape.

As we move further into the poem, the language shifts toward entropy and dissolution: "it just kind of came apart in the hand." This line conveys the fragility of systems, whether they be natural, emotional, or even poetic. The disruption is "sharp / As a fishhook in the throat," a piercing image that evokes both physical and emotional pain. In this moment, the tears that flow seem to drain "into a basin called infinity," a poignant metaphor for the eternal cycles of joy and sorrow that define the human experience.

The poem then takes a turn toward something more optimistic, if ambiguously so. "There was no charge for anything, the gates / Had been left open intentionally," the poet writes, suggesting a boundless freedom or perhaps an abandonment. The reader is left to decide whether the "open gates" signify opportunity or negligence. In either case, they echo with the existential theme that runs through the poem: life's myriad possibilities, its open-ended questions.

The poem concludes with images of examination and retrospection as "someone examines his youth," finding it "dry and hollow, porous to the touch." Despite the melancholy, the speaker expresses a desire for connection-"O keep me with you"-and paints a final tableau where individuals "become part of the immense crowd / Around this bonfire, a situation / That has come to mean us to us."

In the end, "Vetiver" is a complex tapestry of images and ideas, layered with existential questions and the simple yet profound experiences that define human life. It manages to blend the everyday with the eternal, creating a poetic universe where "the last silver drops" of tears can be saved, perhaps in the same basin called infinity, a place that contains both our sorrows and our hopes.

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