Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

The poem "Boat Song" by Theophile Gautier presents a lyrical exchange between an unnamed speaker and a "lovely girl," both contemplating the potential destinations for a romantic journey. The speaker provides vivid details of the boat intended for their trip: an "ivory scull," "streams of silken flags," and a "Golden-ruddered hull." These elegant descriptions serve to enhance the sense of romance and excitement, suggesting a venture that is both whimsical and luxurious. Even the sail of the boat is stitched from "the down of wings / Cherubim have known," elevating the journey to an almost divine experience.

As with many of Gautier's works, there's a close relationship between art and the permanence of human emotion. The details-like "ivory," "golden," and "cherubim"-are materials and figures associated with endurance and eternity, similar to the artforms Gautier celebrated in his poem "Art." This boat, then, is not merely a vessel but a metaphor for a relationship or an artistic endeavor that aims to navigate the undulating seas of human emotions.

The destinations proposed by the speaker-either toward the frigid North or the sultry tropics-serve as allegorical crossroads. They represent choices not just in geography but in the emotional texture of the life the couple could lead. In the North, one could "pluck the flower of snow," evoking purity but also emotional distance. In the tropics, they could "cull the flower below" where "fierce suns spill," suggesting passion but also the heat of conflict or volatility.

However, the girl's reply takes the poem from the realm of allegory into that of a spiritual or existential quest. She desires to go to a "land o' leal / Where no love may die." This mythical place, "not upon the chart / Of the bays and drear / Forelands of the heart," eludes easy definition. It is the ideal but unattainable destination, much like the realm of "lasting love" that Gautier describes in his other works. The realization that such a destination is unchartable becomes a subtle but profound commentary on the nature of human desire and the ultimate inscrutability of the heart.

Just like the speaker in Gautier's "Art" advises the reader to strive for the eternal in their creations, the "lovely girl" here yearns for a love that defies the temporal and geographical constraints of the human condition. The poem closes on a poignant note, acknowledging that the quest for everlasting love is as elusive as the 'land o' leal,' a coast "not upon the chart," yet this acknowledgment doesn't deter from the yearning to undertake the journey.

"Boat Song" encapsulates a deep truth about the human quest for enduring love and meaning, using the metaphor of a sea voyage to explore the complexities of romantic and existential aspiration. It is a poem that marries the tangible beauty of artful existence with the intangible yearnings of the human soul, and in doing so, sails into the ineffable waters of human desire.

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