Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "The Enclosure," James Dickey crafts a vivid and intense poem that explores themes of war, desire, and confinement through a surreal narrative set in a Philippine Island during a wartime scenario. The poem juxtaposes the experiences of soldiers, nurses, and an unspecified man, possibly a pilot, creating a tapestry of human emotion and interaction shaped by the extreme circumstances of war.

The setting is initially described as a movement towards an aircraft in trucks, passing by an enclosure where nurses from sick-tents are kept. This scene sets the stage for the central imagery of the poem: an enclosure ringed by nailed wire, which resonates with the sound of a jew's-harp, a musical instrument known for its vibrating, twangy sound. This sound metaphorically captures the tension and vibration of the emotions and physical barriers present in the poem.

Dickey uses the perspective of a soldier, possibly a pilot, who observes the nurses. The imagery is potent and evocative, describing the women pacing like prisoners, their movements and physical features exaggerated into almost mythical proportions. The women's dungarees floating to the floor and their hair shaking down in "curls and remarkable shapes" suggest a transformation or a revealing that contrasts sharply with their confined and controlled environment.

The poem then shifts to a complex scene where a man—distinct from the observing soldier—is described as being suspended above the women, "outcrying the engines with lust." This man is "carried away without damage," which could imply a surreal or dream-like intervention where his primal desires are expressed but not physically enacted. The women remain "inviolate," untouched by the man’s desires, which are drowned out by the roar of aircraft engines, blending the sounds of mechanical and human into a cacophony of power and desire.

The scene where the women wake in "a cloud of gauze" and overhear the engines' matched thunder further blurs the line between reality and hallucination, between the physical and the imagined. The narrative voice, imbued with a mix of guilt and longing, reflects on this surreal experience, pondering the symbols of confinement and the unfulfilled desires that permeate the enclosure.

In the latter part of the poem, the imagery shifts outward from the enclosure to the broader landscape of war—the "napa-leaves, reeds, and the sea," and the "long wind up from the beaches." These elements create a sense of movement and openness that contrasts with the earlier confinement. The poem concludes with the soldier's personal reaction to the events he has witnessed or imagined. He describes a moment of vulnerability and exposure, "shucking off" his clothes in a "sickness of moonlight and patience," driven by a complex mix of desire, guilt, and a longing for connection that is as intense and unfulfilled as the war around him.

"The Enclosure" is a dense, layered poem that delves into the psychological impacts of war, exploring how the boundaries between freedom and confinement, desire and restraint, are tested and blurred in extreme circumstances. Through its intense imagery and emotional depth, the poem captures the haunting, surreal quality of war's impact on the human psyche.

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