Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Song" by Jacques Prevert is a deceptively simple meditation on the themes of time, love, and the unknown facets of human existence. The poem oscillates between the everyday and the eternal, enveloping readers in a comforting yet baffling paradox about the nature of love and life. Prevert employs repetitive lines and straightforward language, but the poem is imbued with a complexity that resonates deeply, capturing the uncertainty and impermanence that define human life.

The poem opens with the question "What day are we?" This query is immediate, suggesting the elusiveness of time. Despite the ubiquitous nature of calendars and schedules, time remains an abstract concept that we can never truly grasp. Prevert's answer, "We are every day," is a response that defies categorization, much like love and life themselves. In claiming every day, he both disorients and empowers, suggesting that every day is a chance for love and life to unfold in all their richness.

The lines "We're the whole of life / My love" continue this theme of expansiveness, as the speaker asserts that they and their love encapsulate life itself. In this sense, the poem celebrates love's capacity to imbue life with meaning, despite its inherent uncertainties. However, the poem also embraces the mystery of existence: "We don't really know / What life is." Life is an unsolved puzzle, a phenomenon that can't be easily defined or confined within the limitations of human language or understanding.

Likewise, the line "We love and we live" suggests that to love is to live and vice versa, yet these two actions are clouded in ambiguity. The following lines, "And we don't really know / What the day is / And we don't really know / What love is," extend this uncertainty. These admissions serve as both a confession and an acceptance that human experience is fraught with questions that may never be fully answered. In a sense, Prevert isn't presenting these questions to provoke anxiety, but rather to liberate us from the illusion that we must understand everything to live fully.

The strength of the poem lies in its simplicity, providing readers with accessible language while probing into profound existential concerns. Prevert distills complex themes into understandable terms, turning each line into a small revelation. His choice of straightforward language allows the themes to shine, unencumbered by verbosity or obfuscation.

Ultimately, Prevert's "Song" magnifies the enduring paradoxes of human existence. It serves as a contemplative space where readers can wrestle with the intangible elements of time, love, and life. The poem may not offer definitive answers to the questions it raises, but it does provide a poignant reminder that not all questions have answers, and perhaps it is in this uncertainty where the beauty of love and life truly lies.

POEM TEXT:

What day are we?

We are every day

My friend

We're the whole of life

My love

We love and we live

We live and we love

And we don't really know

What life is

And we don't really know

What the day is

And we don't really know

What love is

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