Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"My Erotic Double" by John Ashbery is a captivating foray into the interior landscapes of self, examining the dialogues that one has with their own inner being. The poem opens with an admission of reluctance towards work, setting the scene in a quiet, shielded space behind a house where one can sift through a medley of emotions. The double, the inner voice, or perhaps the inner self, offers a safe space to examine what is often left unsaid or unacknowledged.

The line, "One can go over all kinds of old feeling, / Throw some away, keep others," adds a dimension of selective memory and conscious forgetting. The poem speaks to the process of re-evaluating past feelings and experiences, making conscious choices about what to hold on to and what to discard, a form of internal housekeeping.

As the poem progresses, it delves into the idea of "wordplay" between the self and its inner double. "The wordplay / Between us gets very intense when there are / Fewer feelings around to confuse things." Here, Ashbery suggests that clear, precise dialogue with oneself becomes possible when the fog of overwhelming emotion has cleared. The poet highlights that emotions often muddle rational thought or internal clarity, but once these are sorted through or discarded, a more constructive dialogue can take place.

The lines, "We are afloat / On our dreams as on a barge made of ice, / Shot through with questions and fissures of starlight," introduce dream-like imagery, beautifully fusing the cold, unmoving aspect of ice with the living, dynamic quality of starlight. These lines hint at a kind of delicate balance within the self-a fragile truce maintained in the face of questions and uncertainties. There is a sense that dreams both illuminate and confuse, capturing the complexity and multi-faceted nature of inner life.

The poem ends with a mutual exchange of gratitude between the narrator and their inner voice, each thanking the other for being a "very pleasant person." This close suggests a harmonious coexistence with one's internal duality. The two parts of the self acknowledge each other with thanks, highlighting the idea that self-acceptance, in all its complexity, is crucial for a well-balanced emotional life.

"My Erotic Double" is a poem that offers a nuanced look at self-reflection and internal dialogue, capturing the tension between clarity and confusion, reason and emotion. Ashbery skillfully employs sparse yet evocative language to create a microcosm where the self can be dissected, understood, and ultimately accepted.

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