Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

John Hollander's "Entwining" delves into the intricate relationships between nature, myth, and the human condition, using the imagery of climbing plants to explore themes of growth, support, and transformation. The poem's rich language and layered metaphors invite readers to consider the deeper connections between seemingly disparate elements and the symbolic meanings they carry.

The poem opens with the vivid image of a wisteria plant: "Datum: stretching wisteria, grown thick as a strong young wrist / wrapped around the white verandah column." This personification of the wisteria, comparing its thickness to a "strong young wrist," immediately sets the tone for the poem's exploration of strength and support. The wisteria's "grand and helical gesture" as it wraps around the column suggests both beauty and complexity in its growth pattern.

Hollander playfully introduces the idea of the wisteria defying attempts to be captured or represented: "as if to say, 'any as if to say... I they'd try and paint me / with can never manage to stick to me'." This line highlights the wisteria's dynamic and ever-changing nature, resisting static representation and instead embodying fluidity and life.

The poem then shifts to a broader reflection on the symbolic meanings of entwining plants: "Consider thus a / pliant something entwining something stiff and vertical." This image serves as a metaphor for various forms of relationships and interactions, where flexibility meets rigidity, creating a union that is more meaningful than the sum of its parts. The entwining of plants, such as the grape vine and the olive tree, carries deeper mythological and symbolic resonances: "the grape vine clinging / to the olive-tree which whimpers ever, Why do you molest me, / vine, I'm Athena's tree."

Hollander references classical myths to illustrate the themes of tension and support, such as the relationship between the grape vine (symbolizing Bacchus) and the olive tree (symbolizing Athena). This tension between the two plants reflects broader themes of passion and purity, chaos and order. The imagery of the "bare of leaves, the withering old elm gently enfolded / in the sweet shading green another vine extends about it" represents the theme of enduring friendship and support, even in the face of decay.

The poem transitions to a contemplation of the unadorned nature of the wisteria: "But hanging between the last dusk and the shivering candlelight, the wisteria / itself unpainted, bare of fancied mottoes never disowns its / high obligation." The wisteria, in its natural state, remains true to its purpose of spreading and supporting, bearing "triumphal flags of blossom." This image suggests a celebration of natural beauty and resilience.

Hollander concludes with a powerful reflection on the transformative power of nature and the human experience: "like some deep-rooted / vine that Hawthorne might have murmured of, flowering here and / there but slowly pulling the ancient house of straightforwardness / apart." This line alludes to Nathaniel Hawthorne's use of nature as a metaphor for human complexity and the inevitable changes wrought by time. The poem's final lines evoke the biblical serpent in the Garden of Eden, symbolizing knowledge, temptation, and the profound impact of leaving paradise: "asserting without rhetoric the fundamental / turning of what is rectilinear into the bending / a serpent back in some first garden used / to move around with."

"Entwining" captures the intricate dance between nature and human constructs, between myth and reality. Through its lush imagery and thoughtful reflections, the poem explores how natural processes mirror human experiences, illustrating the enduring connections that bind us to the world and to each other. Hollander's masterful use of metaphor and allusion invites readers to consider the deeper truths that lie beneath the surface of both nature and human life.

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