Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Publius Vergilius Maro, The Madison Avenue Hick" by John Updike is a clever and humorous poem that satirizes the commercialization and simplification of classical literature for modern audiences. Using a playful tone and a mock-rural dialect, Updike critiques the way timeless works are marketed to fit contemporary tastes and attention spans, specifically through the lens of an advertisement for Vergil's *Georgics*.

The poem opens with a description reminiscent of an advertisement, setting a scene in Italy in 37 BC, a time of famine, which is likely an attempt to dramatize and sell the historical context of Vergil's work to potential readers. Updike mimics the style of advertising copy that aims to hook readers with sensationalized snippets of information.

Updike adopts a folksy, vernacular style to voice the challenges of marketing classical literature in a modern, fast-paced environment. He suggests that the average contemporary reader is too "jittery" and distracted ("up-to-date") to sit down with a work as dense and demanding as Vergil's *Georgics*. This is humorously contrasted with the rural simplicity and directness the speaker assumes is necessary to engage the modern reader, using phrases like "heap o' pluggin'" to emphasize the effort required to make classics appealing.

The lines, "Ye've got t' hit 'em hard, with simple predicates, / An' keep the clauses short becuz these days nobody waits," reflect the perceived necessity for immediacy and brevity in communication today. Updike critiques the reduced attention spans and the need for instant gratification, humorously noting that complex sentence structures might take too long to read in an era where people would rather "grab a bite o' lunch."

The use of "a pinch o' slang" to make readers feel "comfy in a Latinate shebang" brilliantly encapsulates the strategy of making ancient, foreign texts relatable to contemporary audiences by infusing them with familiar, colloquial language. This approach is seen as a way to bridge the gap between the erudite, classical world of Vergil and the casual, modern reader.

Overall, Updike's poem serves as a satirical commentary on the clash between the depth and complexity of classical literature and the superficial, quick-fix culture of modern media consumption. He laments the dilution of literary sophistication in favor of accessibility, while also poking fun at the marketing tactics that aim to make these venerable texts palatable to a broader, less patient audience. The poem cleverly uses humor and irony to question what is lost when we try to make the classics conform to the demands of contemporary marketing and consumer habits.

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