Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Louis Simpson’s poem "In California" is a meditation on the tension between the mythic idealism of America’s past and the reality of its present, particularly as it is manifest in the sprawling, modern landscape of California. Through the lens of a New Yorker—someone intrinsically connected to the East Coast's history and cultural gravitas—Simpson critiques the commodification and fragmentation of the American Dream, contrasting the epic journeys of pioneers with the sterile, subdivided existence of contemporary life. The poem's tone is one of disillusionment, as Simpson grapples with the loss of a sense of wonder and the overwhelming presence of death in the very fabric of modernity.

The poem opens with the speaker, a New Yorker, self-consciously intruding upon the "dream coast" of California. The phrase "troubling the dream coast" suggests that his presence, with its "New York face" and "dark preoccupation," is at odds with the sunny, carefree image of California, a place associated with leisure, real estate, and tennis—symbols of affluence and superficiality. The speaker’s preoccupation with something darker contrasts sharply with the superficial lifestyle of the Californians, hinting at an underlying existential crisis or a deeper awareness of the historical and cultural shifts that have occurred in America.

Simpson invokes the past with a sense of nostalgia for an "epical clatter" of "voices and banjos, Tennessee, Ohio," evoking images of a time when the American spirit was characterized by movement, adventure, and a connection to the land. This period, marked by the westward expansion and the pioneering ethos, is romanticized as a time when America was still rising "like incense in the sight of heaven," suggesting a kind of purity or divine blessing. However, this idealized past is starkly contrasted with the present, where an "angel in the gate" now stands as a sentinel, perhaps symbolizing a loss of innocence or a barrier to the kind of freedom once celebrated.

The reference to Walt Whitman, one of America’s great poetic voices and a symbol of expansive, inclusive vision, further emphasizes this contrast. Simpson tells Whitman to "Lie back" on the "fabulous raft with the King and the Duke," a nod to Mark Twain’s "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." This imagery evokes a journey down the Mississippi, a quintessential American adventure, yet the command to "Lie back" suggests resignation or retreat in the face of modern realities. The juxtaposition of the "white row of the Marina" facing "the Rock"—likely Alcatraz, a symbol of imprisonment—underscores the shift from a landscape of freedom to one of confinement and division.

The poem’s command to "Turn round the wagons here" signals a metaphorical retreat from the frontier myth. The speaker acknowledges that "We cannot bear / The stars any more, those infinite spaces," indicating a loss of the capacity to engage with the vastness and mystery of the world, a theme that Whitman embraced. This loss is further exemplified by the realtors who "divide the mountain" and have "already subdivided the valley," turning the once grand and untamed landscape into parceled, commodified real estate.

Simpson draws historical parallels by referencing "rectangular city blocks" that astonished ancient observers like Herodotus in Babylon and Cortez in Tenochtitlan. The implication is that this relentless drive to organize, control, and compartmentalize space is not new, but it is now overseen by "the same old city-planner, death." Death, in this context, is the ultimate force behind the modern impulse to impose order on chaos, stripping the landscape of its vitality and transforming it into something lifeless and mechanical.

The closing lines of the poem reflect a sense of helplessness and inevitability. The speaker acknowledges that "We cannot turn or stay," highlighting the relentless forward motion of history and progress, even as the dream of the Pacific, the final frontier, remains just that—a dream. The image of "great cloud-wagons" moving outward "still, dreaming of a Pacific" suggests that the drive for expansion and conquest persists, but it is now a hollow, unconscious movement, detached from the original spirit of exploration and wonder.

"In California" by Louis Simpson is a poignant critique of modern American life, where the dreams of the past have been replaced by a sterile, fragmented reality. The poem explores the loss of mythic grandeur, the commodification of the landscape, and the inexorable march of death as a planner of human endeavors. Through its rich imagery and allusions to American history and literature, the poem conveys a deep sense of disillusionment with the present, while mourning the lost potential of a once-vibrant national identity.

Copyright (c) 2025 PoetryExplorer

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...