Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Why the Telephone Wires Dip & Poles Are Cracked & Crooked" by John Updike offers a mythical and poetic explanation for the familiar, yet often overlooked, landscape of telephone wires and poles. Using a blend of folklore and whimsy, Updike transforms an ordinary observation into a captivating metaphor, reflecting deeper themes of time, memory, and the enigmatic forces of nature.

The poem starts with a voice of tradition, where "The old men say / young men in gray / hung this thread across our plains / acres and acres ago." This opening establishes a narrative passed down through generations, suggesting a historical and utilitarian origin of the telephone lines as a human-made endeavor. The description evokes a sense of vastness and the labor involved in spanning the "thread" — the telephone wires — across extensive landscapes, connecting distant points.

However, Updike quickly shifts from this conventional explanation to a more fantastical one: "But we, the enlightened, know / in point of fact it’s what remains / of the flight of a marvelous crow / no one saw." Here, the poet introduces a magical element, attributing the creation of the telephone wires to the flight of a "marvelous crow." This unexpected twist not only adds a layer of mystery and intrigue but also challenges the reader's perception of the mundane, encouraging a reconsideration of the everyday through a more imaginative lens.

The transformation of telephone poles into "Each pole, a caw" is particularly striking. This metaphorical leap personifies the poles, giving them voice and character as echoes of the crow’s calls. It suggests that each pole marks a point in the crow’s mythical journey across the skies, and the "caw" — typically a harsh, loud call associated with crows — symbolizes a lingering presence or imprint left by the creature.

This interpretation imbues the landscape with a sense of ancient narrative and wonder, as if the telephone wires and poles are not merely functional infrastructure but part of a larger, unseen story. It invites the reader to view their environment with new curiosity and to consider the possibility of unseen histories and mythical explanations behind other ordinary sights.

Overall, "Why the Telephone Wires Dip & Poles Are Cracked & Crooked" by John Updike beautifully blends reality with fantasy, grounding the poem in a familiar scene while elevating it with poetic imagination. It serves as a reminder of the richness that folklore can add to our understanding of the world and encourages a deeper engagement with the mysteries that might lie behind even the most commonplace elements of our surroundings.

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