Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Albert Goldbarth’s poem "The Way the Novel Functions" navigates the intriguing juxtaposition of science fiction’s imaginative landscapes and the palpable pressures of mundane reality. Through the interplay of fantastical elements and quotidian struggles, Goldbarth reveals the underlying fears and fascinations that shape human experience.

The poem opens with a scene reminiscent of a science fiction story, where humans are miniaturized to an inch tall. This inversion of scale transforms the familiar into the monstrous: a flower becomes a vast, intricate structure, and an insect turns into a terrifying predator. Goldbarth describes an encounter with a Tiger Wasp that decimates a group of people from the Tribe. The visceral imagery of Tuska’s body, swollen and unfit for burial, injects a sense of horror and helplessness. This initial tableau captures the essence of existential dread magnified through the lens of the minuscule.

Amidst the terror, there are glimpses of tenderness and beauty. The ritual of spending the wedding night inside a rose presents a striking contrast to the dangers lurking outside. The imagery of a couple enveloped in the “overfolded tissuey embrace” of a rose petals evokes a sense of delicate intimacy. Similarly, the serene image of the Tribe sleeping around fires highlights moments of communal peace and safety. Yet, these moments are fleeting and serve to underscore the pervasive atmosphere of vigilance and fear.

The poem’s transition from the fantastical to the mundane is abrupt yet seamless. The depiction of the Hornets and Mantis as relentless predators parallels the anxieties of daily life. The Hornets’ attacks, the Mantis’s deceptive camouflage, and the Stalker Beetles’ lethal efficiency symbolize the myriad threats and challenges that one must navigate. The description of the Mantis devouring a child with “horrible motions of etiquette” and using its leg as a saw underscores the blending of horror and the grotesque within the everyday.

Goldbarth skillfully draws the reader back to reality with the line, “You wake. It's day.” This jarring return to consciousness bridges the fantastical fears of the night with the relentless pressures of the day. The day, described as having “6 invisible legs and its feelers,” becomes an extension of the nightmarish creatures, embodying the inescapable and pervasive nature of stress and anxiety. The weight of the day on the chest mirrors the oppressive grip of the Stalker Beetle, blurring the lines between dream and reality.

In "The Way the Novel Functions," Goldbarth explores the interplay between the fantastical and the real, using the science fiction narrative as a metaphor for the everyday battles we face. The poem’s rich imagery and stark contrasts evoke a sense of the surreal within the mundane, highlighting how fiction can mirror and magnify our deepest fears and desires. The poem ultimately suggests that the fantastical and the real are inextricably linked, with each providing insight into the other, and both shaping the human experience in profound ways.

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