Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "Contract," Jane Hirshfield delves into themes of growth, transformation, and the difficult choices that pave the way for renewal. The poem elucidates the relationship between a woman and a rosebush she has received as a gift, exploring the paradoxical necessity of cutting back to promote growth. The poem stands as an allegory for the human condition-of painful yet requisite sacrifices that become the fertile ground for future development.

The poem opens with a piece of advice: "Cut it back hard." This directive from the woman who gifted the rosebush serves as a clear instruction, but also raises questions about the tension between the act of giving and the implicit conditions attached to it. The phrase resonates beyond its literal meaning to suggest that sometimes the things we care about require us to take difficult steps to ensure their vitality. The "contract" in the title can be understood as an unwritten agreement with life itself-to undergo the discomfort of change in the expectation of better things to come.

Hirshfield engages the senses in describing the action: "Thorns and weedy twig-thickets / catch on jacket sleeve, on gloves. / Core-wood splinters green under the shears." This tactile experience underscores the resistance that comes with change, whether it's a rosebush or an aspect of human life. Every cut, every obstacle faced is uncomfortable yet necessary, caught in the "contract" of growth.

The line, "Impossible to believe / that so little left will lead to fragrance," encapsulates the central paradox of the poem. It expresses the skepticism that accompanies the act of cutting back, of sacrificing. Yet, the speaker's hands move "quickly," almost instinctively, "adding their signature branch by branch." This movement underlines the trust the speaker places in the act of renewal, in the belief that loss today might lead to growth tomorrow.

The phrase "agreeing to loss" brings us back to the title, "Contract." Contracts are mutual agreements that often involve compromise, and the poem suggests that life's contract requires the acceptance of loss as a condition for renewal. "Agreeing to loss" is not passive resignation, but an active, engaged acceptance that becomes its own form of agency.

The poem does not assure us that the sacrifices will pay off, but it suggests that the possibility of "fragrance" in the future is worth the difficulty of the present. Hirshfield treats the rosebush as a microcosm of life's larger struggles, using it as a vehicle to explore how we must sometimes dismantle existing structures to make way for new possibilities.

In conclusion, "Contract" serves as a poetic meditation on the uncomfortable but necessary acts that enable growth and renewal. Hirshfield's elegant style and keen insight turn the simple act of pruning a rosebush into a profound allegory for the sacrifices and hopeful expectations that mark the human journey.

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