Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

David Lehman’s "Hopper" evokes the atmosphere of an Edward Hopper painting, conjuring an urban night scene filled with isolation, mystery, and an undercurrent of loss. The poem’s title immediately signals a connection to the American realist painter known for his depictions of solitary figures in urban settings, characterized by dramatic lighting and a sense of quiet tension. Lehman’s poem captures this mood through its spare, cinematic imagery and enigmatic dialogue.

The poem begins with an unusual assertion: "the disappearance of a cat is a good omen." The speaker presents this notion not as a metaphor but as a statement of belief, reinforcing its strangeness by attributing it to a second person ("He said when she told him that hers was missing")—suggesting an ongoing conversation. The woman’s cat has gone missing a week after she moved into a new house, an event that might typically be considered distressing, but the man reframes it as something fortuitous. This reversal of expectation introduces a sense of ambiguity and disquiet.

His reasoning follows: "Cats in captivity violate the natural order." This statement shifts the poem into a meditation on freedom and urban survival. The man suggests that cats belong to the streets, aligning them with the gritty, nocturnal world of the city rather than the domestic space of a home. His language—"prowling, left to fend for themselves"—romanticizes this untamed existence, linking cats to the fabric of the city’s nightlife.

The poem then unspools a cascade of images that situate the reader within a Hopper-esque cityscape: "a cigarette, a lamppost, the lid of an aluminum garbage can, a police siren, an off-duty nightclub dancer." These details are cinematic, evoking a noir-like setting where isolation and chance encounters define the atmosphere. The presence of a "police siren" and "an off-duty nightclub dancer / in a flimsy frock, with a run / in her nylons" introduces an element of vulnerability, further reinforcing the Hopper influence. His paintings often depict women in moments of quiet solitude, whether waiting in diners, sitting in theaters, or standing by windows in dimly lit apartments.

The imagery builds toward a theatrical conclusion: "A searchlight, a spotlight. / Strapless. The theater poster on the wall." The shift to performance-related lighting and costume ("strapless") heightens the sense of spectacle and longing. The "theater poster on the wall" suggests both an external advertisement and a kind of self-reflection—life imitating art. The missing cat, like the nightclub dancer and the elements of the city, becomes part of a larger, stylized vision of loneliness and fleeting presence.

Structurally, the poem is composed in a single stanza with no punctuation beyond line breaks, reinforcing a continuous flow of thought. This lack of strict grammatical boundaries mirrors the way a Hopper painting often captures a moment suspended in time. The enjambment, particularly in the listing of objects, contributes to the poem’s sense of movement, much like the way city life unfolds unpredictably.

Lehman’s "Hopper" is ultimately a poem about perception—how we impose meaning onto absence and presence, captivity and freedom. The missing cat serves as a catalyst for a meditation on urban solitude, the nocturnal world, and the way figures in a cityscape become part of an unspoken narrative. Like a Hopper painting, the poem leaves much unresolved, its meaning lingering in the gaps between its images.

Copyright (c) 2025 PoetryExplorer

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...