Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Stutterer" by Alan Dugan is a powerful and intensely vivid portrayal of the struggles faced by an individual with a speech impediment. Using the metaphor of a tumultuous river journey, Dugan explores themes of communication, personal struggle, and the endeavor to express oneself despite physical limitations.

The poem opens with the word "Courage," immediately establishing the central challenge faced by the stutterer. Dugan describes the tongue having left its "natural position in the cheek where eddies of the breath are navigable calms." This imagery of calm waters represents the ease of speech that most people experience, which is contrasted with the stutterer’s turbulent reality.

The poem vividly illustrates how the tongue, "locks against the glottis or is snapped at by the teeth, in midstream," disrupting the flow of speech much like a river’s current is obstructed by rocks. The use of "midstream" cleverly ties back to the river metaphor, highlighting the sudden and unpredictable interruptions in speech that characterize stuttering.

Dugan intensifies this imagery with "the rapids of the breath are furious with belief," suggesting that the stutterer’s breath becomes rapid and uncontrollable during the struggle to speak, driven by the urgency and intensity of their need to communicate. The breath, often a symbol of life and spirit, here becomes a chaotic force, illustrating the internal conflict faced by the stutterer.

The line "and the tongue, as blood and animal of speech," is particularly striking, portraying the tongue as both vital (blood) and somewhat uncontrollable (animal). This dual nature of the tongue reflects the stutterer's conflict between the natural urge to communicate (the lifeblood of social interaction) and the physical impediment that makes speech difficult.

Dugan then describes the effort to speak as a perilous journey: "to stop it, block it, or come clean over the rocks of teeth and down the races of the air, tumbled and bruised to death." Here, speech is likened to a rough passage over rocks (teeth) and through the air, emphasizing the physical and emotional toll of stuttering.

The final stanza offers a change in tone, suggesting a method to cope with or overcome the stuttering: "Relax it into acting, be the air's straw-hat canoeist with a mandolin yodeling over the falls." This advice to embrace the struggle and transform it into a kind of performance is both whimsical and profound, advocating for acceptance and creative adaptation rather than resistance.

Dugan concludes with a reflection on the nature of this advice, acknowledging it as "the sound advice of experts and a true despair," acknowledging the practical yet daunting challenge it represents. The metaphorical journey ends "down to the old mill stream where lies of love are fair," perhaps suggesting a place of peace and acceptance, where personal flaws are seen as part of one’s charm or individuality.

Overall, "Stutterer" is a masterful blend of physical and metaphorical language that vividly captures the emotional and psychological experiences of someone struggling with stuttering. Alan Dugan’s use of the river and journey metaphors enriches the poem, offering deep insights into the nature of communication barriers and the human spirit’s resilience in the face of such challenges.

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