Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Quirks: 2. That Afternoon I Remembered" by John Ciardi is a reflective and subtly humorous poem that delves into the intersection of imagination, reality, and the legacy of literary figures. Using an anecdote involving Walt Whitman and a butterfly, Ciardi explores the idea of poetic inspiration, the creation of myths around authors, and the personal connections we form with the past, especially through objects and stories.

The poem begins with a reference to a photograph of Walt Whitman, in which the poet is posed with a butterfly on his finger, conjuring an image of Whitman as a figure from a fairy tale or mythology. Ciardi humorously likens himself to "the humdinger who breakfasted on butterfly dust with Zeus," suggesting a whimsical kinship with the great poet based on his own earlier encounter with a butterfly during breakfast. This playful comparison serves to both elevate the mundane and acknowledge the grandiosity often attributed to poets and their muses.

Ciardi then shifts from the mythic to the tangible by introducing Charles Feinberg, a collector who purchased a trunk belonging to Whitman and discovered, among various items, the paper butterfly from the iconic photograph. This revelation—that the butterfly was not a living creature but rather a crafted object—serves as a metaphor for the construction of literary and personal myths, the blending of fact and fiction in the creation of an artist's legacy.

The discovery of the paper butterfly, "from the finger Walt had poked into God's eye," carries a deeper significance beyond its initial whimsy. It suggests an act of defiance or challenge to the divine, a theme that resonates with Whitman's expansive and transcendent view of humanity and the poet's role. This object, a simple paper butterfly, becomes a symbol of Whitman's audacity and his intimate connection with the infinite.

Ciardi's own experience, "halfway into and halfway out of sleep" when encountering the butterfly in his cream, mirrors the liminal space between reality and imagination, conscious thought and dream. The poet's attempt to "spoon up that last dust" of the butterfly echoes the act of trying to capture something ephemeral and fleeting, whether it be inspiration, memory, or the essence of a moment.

In concluding the poem with the acknowledgment that the notion of capturing this essence "wouldn't keep," Ciardi touches on the elusive nature of inspiration and the inherent challenge in trying to grasp or fully understand the impact of those who came before us. The phrase "a least creature touch back through drowsy nowhere to nothing much" evokes a sense of reaching across time and space to connect with the past, however tenuously or fleetingly.

"Quirks: 2. That Afternoon I Remembered" weaves together themes of myth-making, literary inheritance, and the creative impulse, all while maintaining a light, reflective tone. Through the lens of Ciardi's personal memory and the historical anecdote of Whitman's butterfly, the poem invites readers to consider the ways in which we construct narratives around poets and their works, and how these narratives inform our understanding of art, inspiration, and the human experience.

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