Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Marge Piercy’s poem "The Wine" is a sensuous and evocative exploration of the color red, using wine as a central metaphor to delve into themes of passion, vitality, and the intrinsic connections between physical and emotional experiences. Through rich, layered imagery, Piercy draws parallels between the color red in its various manifestations and the deep, life-affirming qualities it symbolizes.

The poem begins by establishing red as "the body’s own deep song," a vivid descriptor that ties the color to the essence of human life. Red is associated with "lips, our busy / organs, heart and stomach and lungs, / the color of our roused genitals," linking it directly to the physical aspects of human existence. This association with vital organs and sensuality underscores red’s role as the color of life and passion.

Piercy describes red as both "the loudest color / and the most secret," capturing its dual nature. It is visible and bold, yet also hidden within the body and clothing, "banked in the dark of the nightly bed / like coals shimmering in a stove." This imagery of coals suggests a latent, smoldering energy, emphasizing red’s potential to ignite and transform.

The poem shifts focus to the experience of red in wine: "Red coils in the wineglass / head into tail like a dozing cat / whose eyes have shut but who purrs still." Here, Piercy personifies the wine, likening it to a content, resting cat, evoking a sense of warmth and comfort. The wine’s aroma is described as rising "like a perfumed ghost / inside the chambers of your nose," which captures the subtle, pervasive nature of its scent.

In the mouth, the wine "opens / its hundred petals like a damask rose," a simile that conveys the complexity and beauty of the wine’s flavor. This image of a rose blooming in the mouth suggests an intimate and intricate experience, which then "subsides, swallowed to afterglow," indicating the lingering pleasure and warmth left by the wine.

Piercy deepens the metaphor by connecting the wine to the act of love: "In the wine press of the bed / of all the salty flows of our bodies, / the heat of our love ferments / our roundness into the midnight red / flowering of the wine." The language here is rich with the imagery of fermentation and transformation, paralleling the making of wine with the physical and emotional processes of love and intimacy. The "midnight red" signifies the culmination of these experiences, highlighting the intensity and depth of human connection.

The poem extols the virtues of wine, which "can make drunken and make warm / that can comfort and quicken the sluggish / that can ease the weary body into sleep." These lines emphasize wine’s multifaceted nature, its ability to both soothe and invigorate. Wine is also presented as a catalyst for celebration: "that can frame the dark bread and cheese / into feast," transforming simple fare into a joyous occasion.

Ultimately, Piercy celebrates wine as a metaphor for the vitality of life: "that can celebrate / and sing through the wine of the body, / its own bright blood that rushes / to every cranny and cove of the flesh / and dark of the bone, the joy in love / that is the wine of life." The poem concludes by reaffirming the connection between wine and life itself, with red symbolizing the blood and the joy that infuse human existence with energy and passion.

"The Wine" is a lush and profound meditation on the color red and its associations with life, passion, and the human body. Through her intricate and sensuous imagery, Marge Piercy encapsulates the deep connections between physical experiences and emotional states, celebrating the transformative and celebratory nature of both wine and love. The poem serves as a reminder of the richness and vitality that color, particularly red, brings to our lives.

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