Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "Sitting Here," Robert Creeley reflects on the complexities of love, memory, and the inexorable passage of time. Through quiet, introspective language, Creeley captures the bond between a parent and child, suffused with both love and melancholy. This poem explores the paradox of closeness and distance, as well as the struggle to hold onto moments and relationships that inevitably change with time. The speaker’s desire to preserve memories and recapture fleeting experiences is palpable, rendering a heartfelt meditation on the passage of time, familial bonds, and the inescapable nature of loss.

The poem opens with a quiet, grounded observation: “Roof’s peak is eye, sky’s grey, tree’s a stack of lines, wires across it.” Here, Creeley presents a detached, almost geometric view of the world outside, highlighting the speaker’s static position—sitting and observing through the window. The lines are simple and spare, yet they evoke a sense of stillness and detachment, as though the speaker is absorbing the mundane details of their surroundings in an effort to avoid confronting their emotions. This detachment also serves as a prelude to the deeply personal revelations that follow, contrasting the quiet exterior with the inner turmoil of longing and vulnerability.

“This is window, this is sitting at the table, thinking of you, far away,” marks a shift from observation to introspection, as the speaker addresses an unnamed “you.” The plain language—“This is window, this is sitting”—reflects an almost meditative state, where the speaker is trying to ground themselves in their surroundings while grappling with their emotional distance from this loved one. The phrase “thinking of you, far away” introduces a sense of separation and longing, suggesting that this “you” is not only physically distant but perhaps emotionally or temporally distant as well.

The focus on “your face / by the mirror on the bureau” conjures an image of the loved one, which the speaker clings to as a means of maintaining a connection. This detail—a face by a mirror—suggests reflection and memory, as though the speaker is trying to hold onto an image that might be fading with time. The declaration, “I love you, I said because I wanted to, / because I know you, my daughter, my daughter,” reveals that this connection is to a daughter, imbuing the poem with a profound sense of parental love and vulnerability. The repetition of “my daughter” emphasizes the depth of this bond, as well as the speaker’s longing to protect and remain close to her.

“I don’t want you to walk away. I / get scared in this loneliness” expresses a fear of abandonment, rooted in the recognition that children grow up and move on, leaving parents to face their own solitude. This line poignantly captures the inevitability of change, as well as the parent’s natural fear of being left behind. The speaker’s vulnerability is starkly apparent, as they admit to feeling “scared” by the thought of their daughter’s independence and the loneliness it might bring.

The plea, “Be me again / being born, be the little wise one walks / quietly by, in the sun, smiles silently, / grows taller and taller,” reflects a yearning to return to an earlier time when the daughter was a child, embodying innocence and quiet wisdom. This image of a child “walking quietly by, in the sun” suggests a nostalgic longing for simplicity and closeness, as if the speaker could somehow recapture the wonder of those early years by watching their child grow again. The daughter’s growth—“taller and taller”—is bittersweet, symbolizing both pride in her development and a sense of loss as she moves further from childhood and, metaphorically, from the speaker’s embrace.

Creeley then expands this reflection to the nature of change itself: “all these things passing, changing, all the things coming and going inside, outside— / I can’t hold them, I want to but keep on losing them.” The speaker’s struggle to “hold” onto life’s moments and relationships reflects a universal human desire to grasp the impermanent. This line captures the frustration and sorrow of seeing loved ones, memories, and moments slip away, despite the wish to preserve them. It’s a recognition that life is inherently transient, and no matter how much one tries to cling to it, time continually moves forward, erasing and transforming everything in its path.

“As if to catch your hand, then, your fingers, to hang on” suggests a desperate attempt to hold onto the physical presence of the daughter, symbolizing a desire to grasp onto something real and permanent. This reaching out represents both a literal and metaphorical need for closeness, a yearning for reassurance that everything will “be all right here and will be.” The speaker’s longing for certainty is tied to an understanding of life’s fleeting nature, as they seek comfort in the idea that “the world is wonder, / being simply beyond us, patience its savor, and to keep moving.” This line introduces a note of acceptance, as though the speaker acknowledges that part of loving someone is allowing them the freedom to grow and change.

The speaker’s contemplation on time—“this fact of time spinning, days, weeks, months, years, / stuffed in some attic”—evokes a sense of inevitability, as time becomes something uncontrollable and accumulative, relegated to memory but never truly within reach. The attic, a place where old items are stored and forgotten, symbolizes the accumulation of years and experiences that the speaker can no longer access directly. This image of time “stuffed in some attic” reflects the emotional burden of memories that can’t be revisited in the same way, despite their weight in the speaker’s mind.

The poem’s closing lines—“As if that touch of you had, unknowing, / turned me around again truly to face you, and your face is wet, blurred, with tears—” reveal a moment of emotional recognition and vulnerability. The imagery of the daughter’s face “wet, blurred, with tears” suggests both sorrow and the distortions of memory over time. The question “or is it simply years later, sitting here, and whatever we were has gone” leaves readers with a sense of unresolved yearning and melancholy, as the speaker confronts the possibility that time and distance have irrevocably altered their relationship. The ambiguity of “whatever we were has gone” suggests that the closeness they once shared may have been lost to time, leaving only memories and a lingering sense of love.

In "Sitting Here," Robert Creeley creates an intimate and poignant meditation on the passage of time, familial love, and the ache of inevitable change. Through quiet, reflective language, he captures the tension between the desire to hold onto loved ones and the acceptance that life is transient. The poem illustrates the profound depth of a parent’s love for their child, as well as the sorrow that comes with watching them grow and drift away. Ultimately, "Sitting Here" speaks to the universal experience of love and loss, inviting readers to reflect on the beauty and heartbreak inherent in life’s fleeting moments.

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