Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Note to Wang Wei" by John Berryman is a reflective and intimate poem that serves as an homage to the ancient Chinese poet Wang Wei, renowned for his landscape poetry that often depicted the tranquil beauty of nature alongside the themes of solitude and contemplation. Berryman's poem bridges the temporal and cultural gap between the Tang Dynasty poet and the 20th-century American poet, creating a dialogue across centuries that explores the universal themes of happiness, mortality, and the poetic imagination.

Berryman begins by expressing bewilderment at Wang Wei's ability to find happiness despite the inevitability of becoming "disheveled, puffs of dust," a metaphor for death and the passage of time that reduces all to mere memories or less. This reflection on the transient nature of life and the enduring quality of Wang Wei's joy, captured in his poetry, prompts Berryman to confront his own feelings of unease and longing.

The poem suggests that Wang Wei's works have a profound emotional impact on Berryman, "teaze me to the verge of tears," highlighting the power of poetry to transcend time and evoke deep emotional responses. Berryman is moved by both the beauty of Wang Wei's descriptions of nature and the contemplation of his fate, which leads him to yearn for the same connection to the natural world and perhaps the same sense of inner peace that Wang Wei achieved through his writing.

Berryman's invocation of the "God of bolts & bangs, of fugues & bucks," reflects his awareness of the chaotic and often violent nature of the world, in contrast to the serene landscapes portrayed in Wang Wei's poetry. This juxtaposition underscores Berryman's desire for a reprieve from the complexities and burdens of modern life, yearning for a "freedom from ten thousand matters," a phrase that echoes the Daoist pursuit of harmony and simplicity.

The poem concludes with a poignant wish for a meeting between the two poets, a symbolic gesture that acknowledges the impossibility of such an encounter while expressing a deep sense of kinship and admiration. Berryman's acknowledgment of his own mortality, "Be dust myself pretty soon; not now," serves as a reminder of the fleeting nature of life and the enduring legacy of poetry as a means of connection between individuals across the expanse of time.

"Note to Wang Wei" is a testament to the power of poetry to inspire, to console, and to provoke thought, bridging the gap between the past and the present, the East and the West. Through this brief but deeply felt poem, Berryman pays tribute to Wang Wei, celebrating the timeless and universal capacity of poetry to capture the beauty of the natural world and the complexities of the human condition.

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