Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "The Novel as Manuscript" by Norman Dubie, we encounter a complex interweaving of history, literature, and personal reflection. This poem, framed as an ars poetica— a poem reflecting on the art of poetry itself—uses the metaphor of a novel to delve into the broader implications of storytelling and memory, particularly within the turbulent context of Soviet history.

The poem opens with a vivid memory of the disappearance of postage stamps in Russia, described as "immense museum masterpieces." These are not merely postage stamps but are emblematic of an entire era, "designed for foreign places" yet borne out of a period marked by extreme deprivation—the famine. Dubie uses this imagery to evoke the collapse of the Soviet Union, symbolized through the vanishing of these stamps, which coincides with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the retreat of Soviet tanks from Afghanistan. The image of "Ceausescu's bride before a firing squad" encapsulates the violent and visible end to an era dominated by Communist dictators.

The narrative then shifts to a literary reminiscence, invoking the character Yuri Zhivago from Boris Pasternak's famous novel "Doctor Zhivago." Dubie paints a desolate scene of Zhivago in the frozen wilderness, in a summer house surrounded by remnants of the past—a broken chair, piano keys, and long black underwear. The mention of Zhivago's pregnant mistress, Lara, asleep before the fireplace, introduces a human element amidst the desolation, highlighting the personal amidst the political upheavals.

Zhivago, once a celebrity and a young doctor, is depicted writing poetry "against all experience and for love of a woman," symbolizing the power of art to challenge and transcend the immediate hardships of reality. This act of writing is juxtaposed with the menacing presence of wolves howling at the edge of a treeline, reflecting the ever-present danger and wildness encroaching on human endeavors.

Dubie intricately connects the literary with the literal through the figure of Boris Pasternak himself, who, despite Stalin's disdain, was spared due to superstition. The narrative deepens with the harrowing image of the daughter of Pasternak’s mistress navigating a prison basement filled with corpses, searching for her mother. This passage mirrors the bleakness and the perseverance found in Zhivago’s story, emphasizing the intertwined fates of personal and political histories.

The closing lines of the poem, urging the reader or the poet to "write your new poems," serve as a call to remember and create, to document and transform experiences just as Zhivago did, as Pasternak did. Dubie suggests that poetry, like a manuscript novel, is a means of navigating and making sense of the complexities of history, the depth of human emotion, and the brutal realities of political change.

"The Novel as Manuscript" is thus a poignant reflection on the role of the artist and the intellectual in times of crisis. It explores how literature and art not only record but also resist and reinterpret the past, offering insights into the enduring human spirit amidst the devastations of time and tyranny.

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