Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Irving Feldman's poem "Loss" is a haunting exploration of grief and its impact on one's perception of the world. The poem presents the profound emptiness and detachment that loss creates, using vivid imagery and metaphors to depict the inner desolation of the bereaved. The emotional intensity

Irving Feldman's poem "Loss" is a haunting exploration of grief and its impact on one's perception of the world. The poem presents the profound emptiness and detachment that loss creates, using vivid imagery and metaphors to depict the inner desolation of the bereaved. The emotional intensity is palpable, conveyed through the metaphor of the world slowly withdrawing and leaving the protagonist in an isolating, barren landscape.

The poem begins with a metaphor that immediately establishes the theme: "The world gathers itself away from her / As one a skirt fold on fold from the fist might pluck." The image of the world retreating like fabric being pulled away suggests a gradual distancing, emphasizing the isolation felt by the protagonist. The withdrawal continues until "The horizon—as mountain, tree, rock" remains, creating a stark, desolate landscape. The line "As in a closet, it would put itself away" further emphasizes this sense of removal and confinement.

Feldman then ties this imagery to a personal loss: "A mother it had given, a mother it took. / And now a lover and a son dumbly / Compose themselves—as mountain, tree, and rock." The loss of the mother becomes emblematic of other losses, with the "lover and a son" also becoming withdrawn and static, reduced to "mountain, tree, and rock." The repetition of this imagery deepens the sense of detachment and emotional numbness.

The next stanza describes the protagonist staring "Across a desert," confronting a barren emotional landscape. The poem's perspective shifts to include the visual richness of nature—"the snow, the burning green"—yet this richness is undercut by the protagonist's despair as she thinks, "My dust." This phrase implies a sense of identification with the barren desert, equating her inner emptiness with the surrounding environment.

The imagery of "golden veins" that "gaze back and do not know / How now she holds their emptiness in trust" speaks to the protagonist's internalization of loss. The "golden veins" symbolize the world's beauty and life force, yet they are oblivious to the emotional void she carries. Her grief has transformed her into a vessel of emptiness, holding "their emptiness in trust."

The poem's central paradox emerges in the next lines: "Nor how they drive their glory along the sky / Because they suck the nothing in her breast." Here, Feldman suggests that the world's vitality paradoxically feeds off her emptiness. This notion is reinforced by the lines, "Who stands unshivering in the absence of all / Gives gold to the root and goats to the crest." Despite her grief and desolation, the protagonist provides sustenance to the world, giving "gold to the root and goats to the crest," implying that her emptiness paradoxically nurtures the world around her.

In the final stanza, Feldman explores the idea of irretrievable loss. The imagery of "summer wind," "swallow," "bell," and "orange" suggests warmth, music, and abundance. However, the protagonist remains detached: "She will not take; there is no having back." The repetition of "Her nothing she gives" reinforces her profound isolation and inability to accept anything in return. The poem concludes with a sense of resignation: "Even so shall she stand." Despite the desolation and the world's apparent indifference to her grief, she remains resolute in her emptiness.

Structurally, "Loss" is written in free verse, allowing Feldman to explore the ebb and flow of grief without the constraints of rhyme or meter. The imagery and metaphors are stark yet profound, creating a powerful depiction of the isolating nature of grief.

In "Loss", Feldman masterfully conveys the emotional landscape of grief, illustrating how the world withdraws and becomes static in the face of overwhelming loss. The protagonist is left in a barren landscape, both internally and externally, unable to reconnect with the world. The poem ultimately serves as a meditation on the profound impact of grief on one's perception of reality, as well as the paradoxical relationship between emptiness and the world's vitality.

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