Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Albert Goldbarth's "A Monument" is a densely layered poem that juxtaposes the ordinary and the extraordinary, the personal and the historical, to explore themes of memory, mortality, and artistic creation. Through a series of vivid and often unsettling images, Goldbarth meditates on the ways we remember and honor the dead, and the role of art in making sense of human suffering.

The poem begins with a somber scene, set in "a weak chargray-and-camellia dusk," where the speaker and others are engaged in the morbid task of moving corpses. This task is described with a casual tone that belies the macabre nature of the activity, creating a sense of dissonance. The corpses, some of which are "really only fossils now," symbolize long-held grievances and traumas, as well as more recent and personal losses.

Goldbarth contrasts this grim task with the banal image of someone losing themselves in their fourth glass of wine at a party, suggesting the ways people distract themselves from deeper pains. The mention of "Tony" and the need for medical tests adds a personal layer, hinting at the speaker's own brushes with mortality and loss.

As the corpses are brought into the living room, they are described as emitting "foxfire," an eerie and beautiful bioluminescence. This image blends the grotesque with the sublime, much like the sky that "is hefting, faithfully, its store of bodies up for staged display." The constellations—Callisto, Cassiopeia, Orion—are reimagined as celestial corpses, their stories of suffering and transformation now immortalized in the night sky. These mythological figures, like the dead bodies in the living room, have been "re-membered," their fragmented parts brought together to create a narrative of endurance and honor.

Goldbarth then shifts to the historical figure of Théodore Géricault, a French Romantic painter known for his masterpiece "The Raft of the Medusa." The poem recounts how Géricault used actual cadavers to model the figures in his painting, bringing a visceral authenticity to his depiction of the survivors' ordeal. The process is described in painstaking detail: "Géricault dragged his sacked cadavers / from the hospital morgue to pose inside his studio." This image of the artist laboring over the dead, "fussed their wretched flesh until it met his compositional desires," underscores the intense, almost obsessive dedication required to transform raw suffering into art.

The dead bodies, some of which "were entering blue," are handled with a blend of reverence and practical necessity, much like the stars in the sky. Géricault's studio becomes a space where the boundaries between life and death, art and reality, blur. The dead are arranged "limb by limb," becoming part of a larger composition that seeks to capture the horror and pathos of their experience.

In the final lines, Goldbarth reflects on the physical and emotional toll of this artistic endeavor. Géricault, described as "giving everything to this," shaves his head in devotion, a ritual act that highlights his commitment to his work. The image of him "lotioning one hard arm" to catch the lamplight’s accents in "a semblance of life" emphasizes the meticulous care with which he approaches his task. The poem ends with a poignant question about the humanity of the dead: "Did they talk about home? / Did they care where they shat?" These questions bring us back to the personal and mundane aspects of life, even as Géricault's work elevates the dead to a monumental status.

"A Monument" thus serves as a meditation on the ways we grapple with death and memory. Through art, Goldbarth suggests, we can create spaces where the dead are honored and remembered, where their stories are given form and meaning. The poem's rich imagery and shifting perspectives invite readers to consider their own responses to loss and the ways they seek to commemorate the lives that have touched their own.

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