Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

William Stanley Merwin’s poem “Chorus” delves into the primordial, almost mystical origins of sound, emotion, and human experience. Through the imagery of bamboo clacking in the night rain, Merwin explores the idea of an ancient, pre-linguistic world—a time before human voices, grief, or even recognizable feelings existed. The poem reflects on the fundamental, inarticulate nature of longing and loss, suggesting that these emotions are deeply rooted in the fabric of existence, yet remain beyond full comprehension or expression.

The poem opens with a vivid auditory image: “The wet bamboo clacking in the night rain / crying in the darkness whimpering softly.” This description immediately sets a somber, reflective tone. The bamboo’s sounds are personified as cries and whimpers, evoking a sense of vulnerability and raw emotion. However, these sounds are not human—they come from nature itself, suggesting that the origins of sorrow and lamentation are found in the natural world, long before human beings gave voice to such feelings.

Merwin continues by describing the bamboo as “hollow columns” that “touch and slide / along each other swaying with the empty / air.” The hollowness of the bamboo emphasizes its emptiness, resonating with the idea of an ancient, unformed emotion. The movement of the bamboo—touching, sliding, swaying—reflects a kind of dance or interaction that is both intimate and distant, as if the bamboo stems are engaged in a silent communication, a dialogue that predates language.

“These are sounds from before there were voices,” Merwin writes, grounding the poem in a time when expression was purely elemental, unshaped by the complexities of human experience. The phrase “gestures older than grief” suggests that the bamboo’s movements and sounds represent a primal form of expression that existed before emotions like grief were even conceptualized. The poem posits that grief, as we know it, is a relatively modern construct—something that evolved alongside language and human consciousness.

Merwin then imagines the bamboo’s “impossibly tall stems” as they reach out, “groping and waving / before longing as we think of it or loss / as we are acquainted with it.” This imagery suggests that the bamboo’s movements embody a yearning that is ancient and instinctual, preceding the human understanding of longing and loss. The poem hints at a form of longing that is not yet shaped by human thought, a raw, unrefined impulse that exists in the natural world.

The concluding lines of the poem bring this idea full circle, with Merwin reflecting on how these primal gestures are disconnected from the human concepts of loss and longing: “gestures… / able to recognize the syllables / that might be their own calling out to them / like names in the dark telling them nothing / about loss or about longing nothing / ever about all that has yet to answer.” Here, Merwin suggests that even as these sounds and movements may seem to be reaching out for something—perhaps a response or an acknowledgment—they are ultimately met with silence, “telling them nothing” about the nature of loss or longing. The bamboo’s sounds are like “names in the dark,” devoid of meaning or recognition, emphasizing the gap between primal expression and human understanding.

“Chorus” is a profound meditation on the origins of emotion and expression, exploring the idea that longing and loss are ancient, elemental forces that existed long before humans could articulate them. Merwin’s use of natural imagery and his reflection on the limitations of language create a powerful narrative that invites readers to consider the depth and complexity of emotions that are, in many ways, beyond words. The poem leaves us with a sense of awe at the ancient, mysterious roots of our feelings and the ways in which they connect us to the natural world, echoing through time in the hollow sounds of bamboo clacking in the night rain.

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