Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"The Working World's Bloody Flux" by Alan Dugan offers a striking metaphorical exploration of confrontation with irrational or destructive beliefs, portrayed here as an encounter with a witch. This poem navigates the terrains of belief, reason, and survival in a world that often seems governed by chaos and unreason. Through its vivid imagery and allegorical depth, the poem grapples with the challenges of maintaining rationality and integrity in a seemingly irrational world.

The poem starts with a direct and practical piece of advice: "What do you do if you meet a witch? Move!" This command to move away from the "scenery of belief in her" suggests an escape from superstitions or harmful ideologies that the witch represents. The urgency of escaping these beliefs is emphasized by the various modes of escape listed—"by air, by car, by foot, by backroads if you must." This passage underscores the necessity of distancing oneself from destructive or irrational beliefs.

However, the poem acknowledges that escape might not always be possible—"And if you can't or think you can't." In such cases, Dugan advises building "a fort of reason in her country." This imagery of constructing a stronghold amidst the territory of irrationality signifies the effort to maintain rational thought as a defense against the encroaching chaos of unreason. The materials for building this fort—stone, brick, mud, sticks, thorn-bush—progressively suggest a situation of increasing desperation, indicating that even the weakest defenses (mud, sticks) must be utilized when stronger resources (stone, brick) are unavailable.

The speaker then provides a charm, a mantra of sorts: "2 plus 2 is four, a truth so true it laughs, 'Tautology!, Tautology!'" This chant represents the clinging to undeniable truths as a way to affirm rationality. The repetition of "Tautology!" highlights the self-evident nature of the statement, a grounding in logical certainty amidst chaos.

As the poem continues, the mathematical certainty of "2 plus 2 is four" transforms into a surreal, almost mythical expression: "2 plus 2 is Noah's Ark, with every couple in it coupled into one and crying differently to make a third, a fourth, a fifth, a litter." This transformation of a simple mathematical fact into a narrative of multiplicity and procreation suggests the inevitable complexity and uncontrollability of life's processes, even within the framework of rationality.

The concluding lines invoke the image of a dove, reminiscent of the biblical story of Noah’s Ark, sent to find a land of peace. The dove's return with "a bomb or burning bough proof in your claws" is a powerful and ambivalent symbol, suggesting that the solutions or resolutions it brings could be destructive ("a bomb") or purifying ("burning bough"), but they are nonetheless proofs of engagement with the world's challenges—whether those are challenges of love or death.

In essence, "The Working World's Bloody Flux" is a meditation on the necessity of reason in a world beset by irrational forces and beliefs. It acknowledges the difficulty of maintaining this reason and suggests that the struggle against unreason is both necessary and perennial, with potential for both creation and destruction. The poem captures the tension between the desire for rationality and the chaotic reality of human existence, offering a profound reflection on how we navigate and survive in such a world.

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