Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Monet's Waterlilies" by Robert Earl Hayden is a work of exquisite subtlety, addressing the profound themes of history, violence, and art. Hayden explores the sanctuary that art provides in times of crisis, juxtaposing the tranquility of Claude Monet's iconic painting with the tumultuous events of his own era-namely, the civil rights struggles in Selma and the Vietnam War in Saigon. The painting serves as an emblem of transcendent beauty, a salve for the soul, amidst the "poisons" that afflict society.

The very act of visiting the painting speaks to the transformative power of art. Hayden comes "again to see / the serene, great picture that I love," and in that repetition is an acknowledgment of art as refuge. The painting offers a place where "space and time exist in light," a metaphor that links the aesthetic experience to the spiritual realm. The "eye of faith believes" in the light; art, therefore, serves as an alternative form of religious belief, providing solace in a time of darkness.

What is intriguing is how Hayden considers the painting's dissolution of concrete forms: "The seen, the known / dissolve in iridescence." The water lilies are no longer mere physical objects; they become, in the eyes of the viewer, "illusive flesh of light." This phrase beautifully captures the evanescent quality of Monet's work, while also suggesting that its essence is timeless-"that was not, was, forever is."

The poem's emotional peak arrives with the line, "O light beheld as through refracting tears." It encapsulates the bittersweet experience of viewing the painting while being fully aware of the chaos in the outside world. Those "refracting tears" serve both as lenses distorting reality and as prisms revealing a hidden spectrum of emotional color. Hayden is acknowledging that his appreciation of the painting is tinged with sorrow, almost as though he's guilty for finding peace in art when there is so much suffering elsewhere.

However, the true weight of the poem lies in its final lines: "Here is the aura of that world / each of us has lost. / Here is the shadow of its joy." The painting becomes emblematic of a universal "lost" paradise, perhaps Edenic, that is free from the tumult of current events. But this paradise is not only a place of nostalgia; it also casts a "shadow of its joy," providing a template of what could be, or what should strive to be regained.

Hayden's poem operates on multiple levels-it's both a meditation on a specific work of art and a commentary on the role of art in society. It raises questions about how one should engage with beauty in times of ugliness and strife, subtly asserting that the space for beauty, for art, must always exist; that in the light refracted through our collective tears, we may find both the memory of a better world and the hope for its return.

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