Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"That Sweet Flute John Clare" by Mary Oliver is an elegiac meditation that reflects on the tormenting fragility of the creative psyche. The poem serves as a litany of troubled souls-poets, musicians, thinkers-whose life stories are imbued with instances of despair, mental illness, or tragedy. Yet, they are presented here not merely as victims but as luminous figures whose art, perhaps, couldn't have been possible without their respective sufferings.

The poem starts with a tribute to John Clare, referring to him as a "sweet flute." Clare, an English poet known for his depictions of the English countryside, struggled with mental health issues for much of his life. By referring to him as a flute, Oliver acknowledges the sweetness of his art that stemmed from his brokenness, capturing an essence that could only be produced through suffering. Similar is the tale of "Eddy Whitman," most likely an allusion to Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson, both of whom faced unique struggles yet contributed immensely to American poetry.

Christopher Smart and his "press of blazing electricity" evoke Smart's religious fervor and subsequent institutionalization, emphasizing how creativity can border on madness-or perhaps arise from it. "My uncle the suicide" could be a personal touch from Oliver, connecting her family's struggles with the list of afflicted geniuses, suggesting that this struggle is not merely historical or artistic, but deeply personal.

Virginia Woolf and her fateful journey "to the river" allude to her struggle with mental illness and her eventual suicide by drowning. Wolf, possibly a nod to the musician Hugo Wolf, is mentioned for his "sorrowful songs." Both Woolf and Wolf offer twin echoes of melancholy, their art tinged with ineffable sadness that in some way is inseparable from their brilliance.

Swift, Schumann, Ruskin, Cowper, and Poe continue the list. From Jonathan Swift's complex relationship with his own mind to Robert Schumann's bridge and leap into the Rhine, each name encapsulates a lifetime of struggle and artistry. Oliver doesn't elaborate on these struggles but encapsulates each in vivid, shorthand images, much like one would recall the faces of loved ones in a moment of desperate prayer.

The closing line, "light of the world, hold me," provides an abrupt turn. This appeal could be seen as a cry for spiritual or cosmic intervention, or perhaps it's a call to the artists themselves, who in their shared struggles, hold each other in a luminous sphere of mutual understanding and recognition.

Oliver's poem then functions not just as an homage but also as a plea-to acknowledge the vulnerability that often accompanies artistic genius, to understand that creativity often comes at a cost, and to remember that even those who illuminate the world sometimes need to be held in a saving embrace. It's as if Oliver is reaching back through history to cradle these tormented souls, and in doing so, asks for the same solace to be granted to her and to all who dare to create.

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