Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "Puritans," Richard Wilbur delves into the psychological landscape of guilt, judgment, and the search for atonement. The poem uses a rhyme scheme of ABBCAC. This unusual rhyme scheme adds a subtle layer of complexity to the poem, reinforcing its thematic concerns. Through the image of a white boat bombarding a river, ostensibly to raise a sunken "murder" to the surface, Wilbur explores how society grapples with its hidden transgressions. This rhyme scheme helps to knit together related ideas while providing enough variation to create a sense of tension.

The poem begins by introducing the "white boat," volleying its cannon "all the morning," the sound serving as a "Judgment warning." This phrase encapsulates the tension between appearance and reality. The boat is white, typically symbolic of purity, yet its actions are invasive and unsettling. Its cannon-fire seems to demand accountability for an unnamed crime, implied to be a murder that has been submerged in the water. The word "Judgment" is capitalized, inviting readers to consider a higher moral or divine standard that the characters in the poem may be trying to evade.

The cannon's explosion brings "Brief blooms of flame," which dissipate into smoke, leaving the river water clouded. This metaphorical cloudiness reflects the uncertainty and moral ambiguity that hangs over the poem's characters. They ostensibly aim to bring the crime to the surface but are not committed to seeing justice served.

This lack of commitment becomes evident when the "river captain" orders another shot, not to expose the crime but as an act of empty ritual. Wilbur reveals the hollowness of their pursuit: "But none of them would wish the murder found,/ Nor wish in other manner to atone." Here lies the crux of the poem: the people are willing to make loud gestures that give the appearance of seeking justice or repentance, but they're not willing to unearth the ugly truth and confront it. Their midnight crime remains underwater, "weighted with a stone," much like the weight of unresolved guilt and unexamined morality that sinks into the collective conscience of a society.

The poem serves as a piercing examination of hypocrisy and the human propensity for self-deception. The act of firing cannons may be dramatic, even cathartic, but it does nothing to address the underlying crime. It's a placebo for justice, echoing the unspoken wishes of a community more eager to maintain appearances than to confront its own failings.

Wilbur's "Puritans" is a complex psychological and social tapestry woven with intricate rhyme and carefully chosen imagery. It casts a critical eye on the ways people, or societies, can use spectacle and ritual as a smokescreen for the moral questions they are unwilling to answer. The river in the poem serves not just as a physical landscape but also as a mirror to the human soul, reflecting both the murkiness within and the elusive possibility of clarity and redemption.

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