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Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained | |||
Mark Jarman's "Unholy Sonnet" grapples with the multifaceted nature of God, the limitations of human understanding, and the paradoxes inherent in faith. By employing a sonnet form—traditionally associated with love and devotion—Jarman explores a more ambivalent and questioning stance towards the divine, blending reverence with skepticism. The poem opens with an invocation that combines a litany of divine titles: "Dear God, Our Heavenly Father, Gracious Lord, / Mother Love and Maker, Light Divine." These appellations reflect the many ways humans have sought to understand and relate to God, encompassing both paternal and maternal aspects, as well as divine illumination. This diverse nomenclature sets the stage for the poem's exploration of the complexity and multiplicity of the divine. Jarman continues to expand the list with more abstract and scientific terms: "Atomic Fingertip, Cosmic Design, / First Letter of the Alphabet, Last Word." Here, the divine is not only personal and relational but also conceptual and cosmological. God is seen as both the minutest particle and the grand architect of the universe, the beginning and the end. This duality underscores the infinite ways in which the divine can be perceived and named. The poem then introduces more earthly and tangible metaphors: "Mutual Satisfaction, Cash Award, / Auditor Who Approves Our Bottom Line, / Examiner Who Says That We Are Fine." These lines infuse the divine with contemporary, secular imagery, highlighting the ways in which modern society might commodify or bureaucratize the concept of God. By likening God to an auditor or an examiner, Jarman critiques the transactional nature of how faith and righteousness can be perceived in a capitalist society. The next line, "Oasis That All Sands Are Running Toward," shifts back to a more traditional and spiritual metaphor, evoking the idea of God as a source of life and refreshment in a desert of existence. This image captures the universal human yearning for divine comfort and fulfillment. In the volta, or turn, of the sonnet, Jarman reflects on the vast range of epithets that can be applied to God: "I can say almost anything about you, / O Big Idea, and with each epithet, / Create new reasons to believe or doubt you." This line acknowledges the power of language to shape belief and the inherent ambiguity in the divine. Each name for God simultaneously affirms and complicates faith, reflecting the human struggle to comprehend the ineffable. The concluding couplet brings a critical perspective: "But what’s the anything I must leave out? You / Solve nothing but the problems that I set." Here, Jarman suggests that the divine, as constructed by human language and thought, is limited to the scope of human concerns and inquiries. The notion that God "solves nothing but the problems that I set" points to a potentially solipsistic aspect of faith, where the divine answers are confined to the questions posed by the believer. "Unholy Sonnet" challenges readers to consider the limitations of their understanding of the divine and the ways in which human language and metaphor both illuminate and obscure the nature of God. Through the use of diverse and sometimes contradictory imagery, Jarman captures the complexity and paradox of faith, encouraging a reflection on the interplay between belief, doubt, and the ineffable nature of the divine.
| Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE MOUNTAIN IS STRIPPED by DAVID IGNATOW AS CLOSE AS BREATHING by MARK JARMAN UNHOLY SONNET 13 by MARK JARMAN BIRTH-DUES by ROBINSON JEFFERS THE SILENT SHEPHERDS by ROBINSON JEFFERS GOING TO THE HORSE FLATS by ROBINSON JEFFERS LISTEN, LORD: A PRAYER by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON |
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