Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"The Crossed Apple" by Louise Bogan is a striking poem that employs the metaphor of an apple to explore the nuances of identity, inheritance, and human relationships. At first glance, the apple is an offering from the speaker's orchard-a simple fruit that embodies an array of characteristics. Yet as the poem unfolds, it becomes clear that the apple serves as a metaphor for something much deeper, encapsulating the dichotomies of life and experience.

The apple in the poem is not ordinary; it is "a cross," a blend of two different types, red and white. Each side has its own distinct features and origins-"Sweet Burning gave the red side, and the white is Meadow Milk." The juxtaposition of "Burning" and "Milk" could suggest the duality of human experience-passion and calm, pain and comfort, life and purity. It's an apple "where two kinds meet," a fitting metaphor for the coming together of two individuals or perhaps even the blending of diverse aspects within a single person.

The apple contains seeds "potent to breed you five great apple trees of varying kind," which could signify the potentiality and future experiences that can stem from a single choice, a single relationship, or even a single moment. Here, Bogan highlights the complexities that lie within simple, everyday things, suggesting that a single action or decision carries with it a multitude of possibilities-both sweet and sour, both nurturing and destructive.

Bogan also captures a sense of the earthly and the eternal within the apple's flesh. When one eats it, one doesn't just taste the fruit but "the blossom, too, the sun, the air, the darkness at the root, the rain, the dew." It's a concise, poetic way of saying that in each small part lies the essence of the whole; in each individual experience resides the sum total of life and existence. These lines could be seen as a celebration of the interconnectedness of all things, a sentiment that seems deeply ingrained in our human consciousness yet often forgotten in the routine of daily life.

The final lines bring the metaphor to its touching conclusion: "I claim the white part, maiden, that's for me. You take the rest." This division of the apple could symbolize a division of experience, destiny, or even labor between two people, capturing a moment of shared experience that is as ordinary as it is deeply meaningful.

The rhyme scheme of the poem-generally ABAB throughout the stanzas-reinforces the idea of pairing and coupling, as each A rhyme finds its counterpart in another A, and each B in another B, further emphasizing the themes of duality and connection running through the poem.

In "The Crossed Apple," Louise Bogan masterfully employs metaphor, structure, and language to craft a work that explores the complexities of existence, reminding us that within even the simplest things lie the seeds of endless possibility.

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