Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Muriel Rukeyser's "Study in a Late Subway" captures the essence of a nighttime subway ride, presenting it as a microcosm of modern life's motion and discontent. The poem employs vivid imagery and metaphors to delve into the themes of isolation, routine, and the ceaseless passage of time, all set against the backdrop of a subway journey.

The poem opens with a reference to the moon, situating the scene within a larger cosmic context: "The moon revolves outside; possibly, black air / turns so around them facing night’s concave." This celestial imagery contrasts sharply with the confined, artificial environment of the subway, highlighting the disparity between the natural world and the mechanical, urban experience.

Rukeyser describes the passengers as "momentum the slogan of their hurling brains / swung into speed, crying for stillness high / suspended and rising on time’s wave." The commuters are depicted as being caught in a relentless, hurried pace, yearning for a moment of tranquility. This captures the paradox of modern life, where people are constantly in motion yet often crave stillness and peace.

The poem then contemplates the subway tracks' origins, hinting at a more primal and untamed past: "Did these tracks have a wilder life in the ground? / beaten from streams of metal in secret earth." This allusion to the elemental forces that shaped the tracks contrasts with their current state, channeling energy and movement in a controlled, directed manner. The "veins of steel" metaphor suggests that the subway system is like a circulatory system, vital to the city's life yet also a conduit for the passengers' collective discontent.

The passengers themselves are depicted with a sense of weariness and detachment. One man’s head is "jointed loosely on his neck," his eyes "glossy" and disconnected from his surroundings. A woman's face is described as a "blank breast with sorrow / spouting at the mouth’s nipple," a stark image of emotional numbness and fatigue. The passengers' dull and passive observation of new arrivals underscores their disconnection and resignation to their routines.

As the subway moves, "An angle of track charges up to us, swings / out and past in a firework of signals." This dynamic description of the track highlights the constant, jarring movement and the flashes of light and signal that punctuate the ride. The passengers' experience is one of being swept along by the forces of the subway, their own agency diminished.

The image of passengers "dangle by one hand / tense and semi-crucified things" evokes a sense of vulnerability and suffering. They are at once suspended in a state of tension and resignation, bearing the weight of their daily lives like a burden. The metaphor of crucifixion hints at a sacrificial aspect to their endurance, as if they are martyrs to the demands of modern life.

Rukeyser then touches on the nature of the subway as a place of both "wrath and fortitude and motion’s burning." The subway is depicted as a crucible where the energies of anger, strength, and relentless motion converge. The world, indifferent to the directionless, moves on, leaving those who cannot keep up to be "sprung in awareness or drowned in peace." This dichotomy suggests that the subway ride is a test of endurance, where passengers either achieve a moment of clarity or succumb to the oblivion of sleep.

The poem closes with a hopeful note: "Sleep will happen. We must give them morning." Despite the harsh, unrelenting nature of the subway ride, there is an assurance that rest and renewal are inevitable. The promise of morning represents the potential for new beginnings and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of the grinding routines of urban life.

"Study in a Late Subway" is a powerful examination of modern existence, capturing the weariness, disconnection, and fleeting moments of clarity experienced by commuters. Through her evocative language and poignant imagery, Rukeyser provides a snapshot of the human condition, highlighting the tension between the relentless pace of life and the enduring hope for rest and renewal.

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