Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "Rent in the Screen," Howard Nemerov crafts a delicate and evocative meditation on the fleeting nature of life and the illusions of temporal warmth. The poem uses the imagery of cinnamon moths and the deceptive mildness of a December day to explore themes of transience, nature's cycles, and the ephemeral quality of existence.

The poem opens with "Sweet mildness of the late December day," a phrase that sets a deceptively serene and warm tone, unusual for winter. This mildness, however, is a false promise, a temporary respite from the season's typical cold. The "late December day" suggests a period near the year's end, a time associated with endings and the approach of a new beginning, underscoring the transient nature of the moment.

Nemerov introduces the cinnamon moths, whose appearance is prompted by this deceptive warmth: "Deceives into the world a couple of hundred / Cinnamon moths, whose cryptic arrow shapes / Cling sleeping to a southward-facing wall." The moths, with their "cryptic arrow shapes," symbolize delicate beauty and vulnerability. They cling to the wall, dormant and unsuspecting, lulled into a false sense of security by the unseasonal warmth. The southward-facing wall suggests a place of refuge, warmth, and light, further emphasizing the temporary illusion of safety and comfort.

The phrase "All through the golden afternoon, till dusk / And coming cold arouse them to their flight" marks the inevitable transition from warmth to cold. The golden afternoon, a metaphor for fleeting beauty and transient moments of peace, gives way to dusk and the return of cold, awakening the moths. This awakening to flight symbolizes a movement from a state of rest and illusion to one of active engagement with the harsh reality of the world.

"Across the gulf of night and nothingness, / The falling snow, the fall, the fallen snow," captures the moths' flight through the descending darkness and the cold, unforgiving landscape. The repetition of "falling snow, the fall, the fallen snow" evokes a sense of continuous, unending descent and the cyclical nature of time and seasons. It emphasizes the inevitability of change and the impermanence of the brief warmth that deceived them.

The concluding lines, "World whitened to dark ends. How brief a dream," succinctly capture the poem's essence. The world, now covered in snow, appears pure and beautiful but also cold and deadly. The "dark ends" suggest the ultimate fate of the moths and the finality of the cycle of life. The phrase "How brief a dream" reflects on the fleeting nature of the moths' experience and, by extension, the transient moments of warmth, beauty, and life that we all encounter.

"Rent in the Screen" by Howard Nemerov uses the delicate imagery of moths and a deceptively warm December day to meditate on the themes of transience and the illusory nature of temporary comforts. The poem beautifully captures the brief moments of warmth and peace in life that are inevitably followed by the cold realities of existence. Through its rich imagery and contemplative tone, the poem invites readers to reflect on the fleeting nature of life's moments and the inevitability of change and loss.

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