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Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained | |||
Susan Wheeler’s "Roanoke and Wampumpeag" is a rich, multilayered poem that explores the interplay of childhood curiosity, cultural commodification, and historical legacy. Its vivid imagery and juxtaposition of the personal with the historical create a tension that resonates with themes of identity, consumerism, and memory. The opening lines immediately place the reader in a nostalgic, almost mythic setting: “Child, entering Ye Olde Trading Post, takes the pegs upon the walls / For trees.” The Trading Post, a staple of roadside Americana, becomes a liminal space where commercialized fragments of history—buckskin dolls, moccasins, and maple sugar—blur the lines between artifact and trinket. The child’s perspective, filled with wonder and naivety, contrasts sharply with the implicit critique of how such objects are presented and consumed. The references to “REAL!” and “AUTHENTIQUE” emblazoned on items like “APACHE ARROWHEADS” and a “CAN OF WORMS” highlight the commercialization and reduction of Indigenous cultures into commodities for tourist consumption. The labels’ insistence on authenticity underscores the irony of their context: mass-produced artifacts that trivialize and distort the cultures they purport to represent. The child’s fascination with these items speaks to the seductive power of these symbols, while the adult perspective woven into the poem invites a deeper interrogation of their meaning. Amidst this tableau, the “dread of parents, parked, smoking, in the lot” introduces a sense of unease. The parents’ passive detachment contrasts with the child’s active engagement, suggesting a generational disconnect or a broader apathy toward the commodification on display. The adults, immersed in their own distractions—“murmuring over turquoise rings” or reading The Making of a President—embody a quieter, more subdued engagement with the world, one that lacks the child’s immediate and tactile curiosity. The poem’s language, particularly in lines like “Piecework of the quiet shade. Piecework of the whoosh of trees,” captures the fragmented nature of memory and experience. The repetition of “piecework” emphasizes how moments and objects are pieced together, both in the Trading Post and in the larger historical narrative it evokes. The “whoosh of trees blowing beyond log walls” serves as a reminder of the natural world and the histories that predate and outlast the commodified representations within. The closing stanza introduces a sibling figure who interrupts the child’s contemplation: “A brother, suddenly. Come ON.” This abruptness mirrors the inevitable pull away from wonder and introspection back into the rhythms of family life. The child’s “dollar” buys not meaningful artifacts but “four old-tyme sticks”—a seemingly trivial purchase that contrasts with the depth of her earlier engagement. The specificity of “horehound-hard and stale” underscores the sensory experience of the moment, while also hinting at the bittersweet nature of nostalgia. The poem concludes with the family’s departure: “their car on gravel moving out, trunk / To traders and the totem pole, behind the ghastly, grinning cow.” This final image encapsulates the poem’s tension between authenticity and artifice. The “traders and the totem pole” evoke a distorted version of history, while the “ghastly, grinning cow” serves as a grotesque emblem of the commercialization and erasure of complex cultural legacies. At its core, "Roanoke and Wampumpeag" is a meditation on how history, memory, and identity are commodified and consumed. Through the lens of a child’s wonder and an adult’s critique, Wheeler captures the complexities of cultural appropriation and the ways in which we engage with the past—whether through curiosity, detachment, or commodification. The poem’s layered imagery and nuanced tone invite readers to reflect on their own relationship to history and the stories we inherit and perpetuate.
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