Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Stephane Mallarme's "Anguish" plunges into the intricate relationship between morality, vice, and the existential dread of loneliness. This poem is steeped in melancholy and resignation, with the poet-speaker not seeking physical intimacy, but something far more elusive and perhaps impossible: a "deep sleep with no dreams." The poem delves into the human psyche, exploring the darkness that exists both within and outside the self.

The opening line, "I come not to conquer your body tonight, O creature," immediately disrupts conventional expectations of love poetry. The object of desire is referred to as a "creature," an ambiguous term that signifies otherness and perhaps even moral degradation. The narrator himself is implicated in this network of vice and sin, as he points out that the "sins of a nation" stream through this creature, suggesting a collective moral failing that goes beyond individual responsibility.

The poet-speaker dismisses physical desire and the "tedium" of kisses. He is not interested in stirring a "sad tempest" in the impure hair of the creature, suggesting that the pursuits of the flesh offer only ephemeral satisfaction, if any. The request for a dreamless sleep suggests a desire for oblivion or annihilation, a deep need to escape the haunting moral complexities of existence. The speaker envisions sleep as a dark cloth that covers the feeling of remorse, underscoring his intense need for oblivion.

The poem delves into moral ambiguity as it acknowledges that both the speaker and the creature are marked by vice's "sterility." Both have been hardened or made emotionally barren by their moral failings. However, the creature possesses a "breast of stone" that remains unaffected by wrongdoing, pointing towards an emotional emptiness or perhaps moral indifference that the poet-speaker finds deeply unsettling.

Finally, the poem culminates in a devastating existential realization: the poet-speaker's deepest fear is that of dying while sleeping alone. This solitude is not just physical but also moral and existential. In contrast to the creature who knows "more about oblivion than a corpse," the speaker is "haunted" by his moral failings, "wan, undone" and terrified of facing the ultimate isolation of death.

"Anguish" is a poignant portrayal of existential despair. Mallarmé does not offer any resolution or redemption; instead, he plunges the reader into the dark corridors of the human soul. It is a raw examination of moral relativism, vice, and the inescapable fear of loneliness, themes that resonate as powerfully today as they did when the poem was written. The poem serves as an intense psychological portrait that utilizes both abstraction and vivid imagery to explore the often tortuous nature of human existence.

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