Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Alicia Suskin Ostriker’s poem "Diaspora" navigates the complex interplay between the vividness of life, the weight of historical trauma, and the relentless demands of existence. Through striking imagery and allegorical elements, Ostriker crafts a meditation on the inheritance of suffering and the perpetual challenges of learning and living in the aftermath of immense loss.

The poem opens with a scene of intense visual and emotional impact: "The forsythia bush is made of yellow fire, / The daffodils are made of yellow fire." The use of "fire" to describe the flowers imbues them with an almost unbearable vibrancy, suggesting that beauty, here, is both alluring and painful. The flowers are "difficult to look at" because they demand the observer’s full attention, evoking a sense of discomfort and unease. This discomfort is not merely physical but also psychological, as the flowers "cry shrilly just beyond the capacity of your ears." The synesthetic blend of sight and sound here emphasizes the overwhelming nature of the experience. The flowers, symbols of spring and renewal, embody a paradox: they are both life-affirming and intensely demanding, representing the difficult truths that one must confront.

Ostriker deepens this exploration by framing the flowers as an "allegory of learning." The "yellow fire" of the forsythia and daffodils becomes a metaphor for the painful process of gaining knowledge, particularly in the context of a "postwar heritage." This heritage, likely a reference to the Jewish experience post-Holocaust, is fraught with perilous truths that one might wish to avoid. The notion of "springtime, resurrection" juxtaposed with "perilous truth" suggests that even in moments of renewal and hope, the scars of history are ever-present. The imagery of fire, traditionally associated with both destruction and purification, underscores the dual nature of this inheritance—simultaneously illuminating and scalding.

In the second part of the poem, Ostriker shifts focus to a "bed of tulips" that hold "flesh cups / Like the dead family around a child." This haunting image evokes the memory of lost generations, perhaps alluding to the countless lives extinguished during the Holocaust. The tulips, typically symbols of beauty and vitality, are here transformed into vessels of memory, their "flesh cups" reminiscent of both human vulnerability and the burden of remembrance. The child, "dressed stiffly for a first recital," becomes a symbol of innocence thrust into the harsh reality of survival and the expectations placed upon those who live on. The "row of eyes / And a row of heaving breasts" suggests the weight of the past pressing upon the present, a silent but palpable demand for recognition and continuation.

The poem’s final lines bring these themes to a poignant conclusion: "You can never learn the routine of life— / Were you ever wise? / If when you were children you knew, you knew— / More and more will be expected of you." These lines capture the relentless nature of existence, where the "routine of life" is something that eludes mastery. The rhetorical question "Were you ever wise?" hints at the impossibility of fully comprehending or mastering the complexities of life and history. The reference to childhood wisdom—"if when you were children you knew"—suggests that there is an innate understanding or awareness that is perhaps lost or buried as one grows older. Yet, this awareness does not lessen the expectations placed upon the individual; instead, "more and more will be expected of you."

"Diaspora" is a meditation on the challenges of living with the weight of history and the demands of continuous learning in the face of traumatic inheritance. Through vivid imagery and allegory, Ostriker explores the tension between beauty and pain, knowledge and ignorance, memory and the demands of the present. The poem speaks to the burden of carrying forward the legacy of the past, particularly for those whose heritage is marked by profound loss, and the ever-present expectation to make sense of, and perhaps find redemption in, the enduring flame of life.

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