Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Carolyn Kizer’s "Mud Soup" is a humorous and relatable reflection on the trials and tribulations of cooking. The poem details the narrator’s frustrating experience of making a lentil soup that ultimately turns out disastrously. Through a series of vivid and playful descriptions, Kizer captures the chaos of the kitchen and the poignant disappointment of culinary failure.

The poem opens with a list of ingredients and borrowed items, setting the stage for the soup-making endeavor: "Had the ham bone, had the lentils, / Got to meat store for the salt pork, / Got to grocery for the celery." This catalog of ingredients and necessary trips establishes the effort and preparation involved. The line "One big kettle I had not got; / Borrowed pot and lid from landlord" adds a touch of humor, highlighting the resourcefulness required when one lacks essential equipment.

In the second stanza, the poem shifts to the preparation process, where the chaos begins: "Dice the pork and chop the celery, / Chop the onions, chop the carrots, / Chop the tender index finger." The inadvertent injury serves as a comedic yet painful reminder of the hazards of cooking. The detailed instructions continue with "Put the kettle on the burner, / Drop the lentils into kettle: / Two quarts water, two cups lentils," grounding the reader in the step-by-step procedure that consumes the afternoon.

As the cooking progresses, the poem emphasizes the summer heat and the laborious nature of the task: "Did I say that this is summer? / Simmer, summer, summer, simmer. / Mop the floor and suck the finger. / Mop the brow with old potholder." These lines create a vivid picture of the narrator's sweaty, uncomfortable struggle in the kitchen, underscored by the repetitive play on the words "summer" and "simmer."

The fourth stanza brings the cooking process to a close: "Time is up! Discard the cheesecloth. / Force the mixture thru the foodmill / (having first discarded ham bone). / Add the lean meat from the ham bone; / Reheat soup and chop the parsley." Despite the meticulous efforts, the narrator's hard work is met with disappointment: "Now that sweating night has fallen, / Try at last the finished product."

The final stanza captures the ultimate failure of the dish: "Tastes like mud, the finished product. / Looks like mud, the finished product. / Consistency of mud the dinner." The repetition of "mud" emphasizes the unsatisfactory result, and the narrator's frustration is palpable. The rhetorical question "Was it lentils, Claiborne, me?" suggests a search for the source of the failure, implicating both the ingredients and the recipe from The New York Times.

The poem concludes with a humorous resolution: "Flush the dinner down disposall, / Say to hell with ham bone, lentils, / New York Times's recipe. / Purchase Campbell's. Just add water." This resignation to store-bought soup after the elaborate homemade attempt underscores the futility felt by the narrator. The final lines, "Concentrate on poetry: / By the shores of Gitche Gumee / You can bet the banks were muddy, / Not like Isle of Innisfree," draw a witty parallel between the muddy soup and the muddy shores of Gitche Gumee, contrasting it with the idealized, serene landscape of Innisfree, invoking W.B. Yeats' famous poem.

"Mud Soup" is a delightful exploration of domestic life and the humorous side of cooking mishaps. Carolyn Kizer’s use of vivid imagery, playful language, and relatable experiences makes the poem both entertaining and evocative. It captures the essence of everyday struggles and the ironic twists that often accompany our best efforts, reminding us to find humor and poetry even in our failures.