Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Identity of Images" by Robert Desnos is a mesmerizing journey into the realm of the subconscious, blending elements of dreams and reality to explore themes of desire, fear, and the transformative power of the imagination. Through vivid, sometimes surreal imagery, Desnos crafts a narrative that oscillates between the tangible world and the ethereal landscapes of dreams, inviting the reader to traverse the fluid boundaries of consciousness.

The poem opens with the speaker engaged in a furious battle with animals and bottles, immediately plunging us into a scene that is both chaotic and charged with symbolic significance. This struggle, set against the backdrop of a temporal dislocation—"In a short time perhaps ten hours have passed one after another"—evokes the nonlinear perception of time often experienced in dreams, where moments stretch and contract, eluding rational measurement.

The recurring motif of the "beautiful swimmer who was afraid of coral" serves as a central axis around which the poem's various images revolve. This figure, emblematic of vulnerability and beauty, is juxtaposed with the threatening presence of coral, crowned with holly, which knocks on her door. The coral, representing both natural beauty and potential harm, becomes a symbol for the fears and dangers that lurk beneath the surface of our desires.

Coal, characterized as the "tutelary genius of dreams and my solitude," emerges as a dominant force within the poem, imbued with the power to both illuminate and obscure. Desnos attributes to coal a kind of mystical authority over the dream world, casting it as a guardian of the threshold between waking life and the unconscious. The "gleams the last gleams of coal" that illuminate the clothes on a chair not only provide light but also hint at transformation—the mundane becoming enchanted under the coal's glow.

The narrative then takes a more ominous turn as the poem describes the coal's journey through the night, attending funerals and embassy balls, and standing "terribly before ships" that do not return. This passage evokes a sense of foreboding and mystery, with the coal's presence marking events with a dark significance, its "resounding step" disturbing the silence of the night.

As the poem draws to a close, the speaker finds themselves alone with the fire, interrogating the coal, which continues to project "the shadow of its smoke and the terrible reflections of its embers" onto the speaker's path. This final scene captures the essence of the poem's exploration of identity and the power of the unseen forces that shape our perceptions and experiences. The coal, with its "wings of darkness," becomes a metaphor for the subconscious, casting shadows and reflections that distort and define our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

"Identity of Images" is a profound meditation on the interplay between light and darkness, the seen and the unseen, and the ways in which our fears, desires, and dreams influence our perception of reality. Desnos masterfully navigates the liminal spaces between the external world and the internal landscapes of the mind, creating a poem that is both a reflection on the nature of identity and an invocation of the transformative power of the imagination. Through its dense imagery and complex symbolism, the poem invites readers to contemplate the myriad ways in which the external world mirrors the inner realms of the human psyche, and how our identities are shaped by the interplay of these forces.

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