Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

James Dickey's poem "The Cancer Match" is a poignant and defiant meditation on facing terminal illness with a blend of dark humor and grim acceptance. The poem portrays a personified battle between cancer and the human spirit, framed by the speaker's encounter with mortality. This confrontation is not just a struggle for survival but a deep, almost existential reflection on life, death, and the indomitable human will.

The poem opens with a casual, almost irreverent address to the divine—"Lord, you've sent both / And may have come yourself"—suggesting that the speaker sees his predicament as part of a larger, possibly divine or fated, scheme. This introduction sets a tone that is both serious and sardonic, as the speaker prepares to "sit down" and confront the reality of his condition with the company of cancer and whiskey, treating them as if they were guests—or opponents—in his home.

Dickey uses the metaphor of a match, a fight between cancer and whiskey, to dramatize the internal battle raging within the speaker's body. This metaphor extends into a vivid, almost cinematic scene where the disease and the drink square off "here on my ground." The imagery of them bowing "Like judo masters" infuses the confrontation with a sense of honor and ritual, elevating the fight to more than just a battle for survival—it becomes a performance, a dance of life and death.

The reference to coming home "from the hospital" and having "all night" suggests that the speaker is in the twilight of his life, facing his final hours with a mixture of resignation and rebellion. He acknowledges the limits of medicine—"That medicine has no hope, or anything / More to give"—yet finds a strange companionship and even empowerment in his confrontation with cancer, mediated by the whiskey. This complex relationship is marked by both resignation to and resistance against the inevitable, encapsulated in the interaction between the debilitating effects of cancer and the numbing, emboldening influence of alcohol.

As the poem progresses, the battle becomes an internal spectacle, a source of entertainment and surreal inspiration for the speaker, who rises "like my old self / To watch." This detachment, viewing his own suffering as if it were a match to be observed, illustrates a coping mechanism, perhaps a way to gain agency over an uncontrollable situation. The cancer and the whiskey, grappling "near the mailbox / And superbly / For the street-lights," transform the mundane into the arena of epic struggle.

Ultimately, the poem is a declaration of defiance and a call to arms against the "turgid hulk" of cancer. The speaker's invocation of his "Basic Life Force" to swarm over the disease reflects a desire to fight back, to claim a victory, however temporary, against the odds. The rallying cry—"Get 'im, O Self / Like a beloved son! One more time! Tonight we are going / Good better and better we are going / To win, and not only win but win / Big, win big"—is both a battle chant and a poignant assertion of life in the face of death.

"The Cancer Match" is a testament to James Dickey's ability to blend the visceral with the philosophical, offering a raw yet reflective take on mortality. Through the metaphor of a nocturnal fight, Dickey captures the complexity of human emotions when confronted with the end of life—fear, defiance, humor, and a profound will to continue the struggle, even in the face of inevitable defeat.

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