Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Albert Goldbarth's "Sympathetic Magic" delves into the interconnectedness of objects, symbols, and experiences, presenting a meditation on how seemingly disparate elements can be bound by metaphorical and literal connections. The poem's exploration of sympathetic magic—where one thing is believed to influence another through a mystical connection—serves as a lens through which the speaker perceives and interprets the world.

The poem opens with a vivid scene: potato farmers dumping their crops at the loading docks, creating a "raw cornucopia against blue." This image of abundance is juxtaposed with another form of excess across town: a surplus of donor eyes at an Ophthalmological Center. The blue light mentioned in both scenarios creates a visual thread, tying together the earthy, tangible world of potatoes and the clinical, sterile realm of donated organs. This connection is not just visual but symbolic, representing the idea of surplus and the idea of sympathetic magic, where different forms of abundance and scarcity resonate with one another.

Goldbarth's speaker explicitly acknowledges the belief in sympathetic magic, suggesting that these parallels are not coincidental but rather part of a larger, interconnected web of meaning. The reference to "sympathetic magic" draws on anthropological concepts where objects or actions can influence each other through an inherent connection. This idea is illustrated through various symbols in the poem: the rose as a symbol of female sex, the hammer-blows in a 17th-century painting of Christ as representations of physical suffering, and the conch as a recurring image of femininity. These symbols create a tapestry of connections, weaving together the physical and metaphysical realms.

The poem's imagery becomes more introspective as the speaker reflects on personal experiences and emotions. The "last night's phone conversation hung on its pole" suggests a lingering emotional weight, perhaps a romantic or intimate connection that continues to influence the speaker's thoughts. The references to eating the balls of a bullock to arouse her and using salt to stop tears highlight the archaic, almost ritualistic elements of sympathetic magic, blending the mundane with the mystical.

As the poem progresses, the speaker's observations of the external world—skaters creating infinity signs on the ice, the blue blocks of ice reflecting eyes, and the frozen pickerel—mirror the internal landscape of memory and emotion. The Ophthalmological Center, with its surplus of eyes, becomes a metaphor for perception and memory, suggesting that the speaker's past experiences are preserved like the organs on ice, waiting to be revived and reinterpreted.

The poem's closing lines bring together the themes of connection and transmission. The universe, slipping through the window in "blue sheets," is likened to a "matrix, a transmitter, a sympathetic device." This suggests that the world itself is a complex system of interconnected symbols and meanings, constantly transmitting and receiving influences. The speaker's recognition of these connections offers a glimpse into a deeper understanding of reality, where every object and experience is part of a larger, intertwined web.

In "Sympathetic Magic," Goldbarth uses rich, layered imagery to explore the ways in which objects, symbols, and experiences are interrelated. The poem's meditation on sympathetic magic provides a framework for understanding these connections, highlighting the mystical and often unseen links that bind the physical and emotional worlds. Through this exploration, Goldbarth invites readers to consider the profound and often hidden relationships that shape our perception of reality.

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