Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

John Frederick Nims’ “The Child” is an effervescent and celebratory poem that captures the wonder of new life through lush natural imagery and a sweeping, almost mythic tone. The birth of the child is not just a private moment but an event that transforms the landscape itself, aligning the newborn with cosmic and earthly grandeur. The poem’s structure and movement reflect the awe and joy of parenthood while hinting at the weight of future expectations.

The poem opens with an invocation of nature’s response to the child’s arrival: How the greenest of wheat rang gold at his birth! / How oaks hung a pomp in the sky! This hyperbolic natural imagery immediately elevates the moment beyond the ordinary, presenting the child’s birth as an event of universal significance. The transformation of greenest of wheat to gold echoes biblical or mythical imagery of prosperity and divine favor, while the oaks arranging themselves in pomp suggests a grand, ceremonial reception. This alignment of human experience with nature’s grandeur sets the tone for the poem’s theme of transcendence.

The second stanza shifts from the vastness of nature to the quiet tenderness of infancy. The tiptoeing hospital gives a sense of reverence and care, its pillowy arms reinforcing the child’s fragility. Yet, this fragility is countered by the suns of July, suggesting warmth, radiance, and strength. The reference to July—a peak of summer—further enhances the child’s birth as a moment of vitality and abundance.

The third stanza introduces movement, both in nature and in the child’s own presence. Dizziest poplars spin wildly in the wind, mirroring the dizzying joy of the moment. The contrast between these frenzied trees and the baby’s stillness—Slept twenty-two hours with a Buddha-fine face—creates a striking juxtaposition. The Buddha-fine face suggests tranquility, wisdom, and a preternatural serenity, as if the newborn already possesses an innate understanding of existence. The phrase his hands were palm-up like a dancer’s evokes openness and grace, subtly suggesting both vulnerability and an unconscious harmony with the world.

Yet, this serene moment is punctuated by a shift to sudden distress: Or his tragic mask's sudden pink-rubbery woe / Sent us thumbing four books for the answers. The tragic mask—an allusion to classical theater—contrasts with the earlier Buddha-like calm, showing the duality of infancy: peaceful and unknowing one moment, crying with untranslatable urgency the next. The detail of thumbing four books for the answers humorously captures the panic and helplessness of new parents, emphasizing how the child, though tiny, commands attention and action.

The poem’s closing stanzas return to the overarching theme of nature’s deep connection with the child. The grave clouds smiled over, / Smiled, flowing west to east, countering sun;—this movement of clouds against the sun’s course suggests a force working beyond the predictable rhythm of time, reinforcing the child’s birth as an exceptional event. The lines Fields at their leaving all spurted up green! / Old fences limped by at a run! heighten this sense of dynamism. The world, once still, now pulses with life, as if energized by the child's presence.

The final stanza moves into a prophetic register, addressing nature directly: O elms, fling up up up Corinthian fountains. The invocation of Corinthian—a reference to the elaborate, decorative order of Greek columns—links the trees to both artistic splendor and historical grandeur. The speaker urges nature to tangle in mirth, as if recognizing that this child is destined to be enmeshed in the world’s beauty and energy. However, the closing lines introduce a subtle, poignant shift: Soon you will root in his woodbrook eyes more deeply (O reborn poplars) than in Michigan earth. Here, the permanence of nature and the transience of human life are juxtaposed. The phrase woodbrook eyes suggests clarity, purity, and an almost mystical ability to perceive the world deeply. Yet, by stating that the trees will take root in the child’s eyes rather than the Michigan earth, the poem suggests that nature will be preserved not just in the physical world, but in memory, perception, and experience.

The poem’s lyrical structure, its musical repetitions, and its fluid transitions between grand natural imagery and intimate human moments contribute to its emotional resonance. Nims employs a rich lexicon of organic, kinetic language—spun spinning, swirl and spangle, tangle of mirth—which mirrors the lively, unpredictable nature of both the child and the world around him. The fusion of classical references (Buddha, Corinthian columns, tragic masks) with Midwestern American imagery (Michigan earth, woodbrooks, fences) imbues the poem with both timeless universality and personal specificity.

Ultimately, “The Child” is a meditation on the miracle of birth and the way a new life reconfigures the world for those who behold it. It captures both the joy of creation and the quiet recognition that, though rooted in the tangible present, this moment will someday belong to memory. The poem does not dwell on the burdens of the future, but it hints at them—the transformation of fields, the rebirth of poplars, the way the child’s eyes will absorb and carry the world within them. Through this, Nims crafts a piece that is at once celebratory, intimate, and deeply aware of the mysterious interplay between nature, time, and human existence.

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