Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Albert Goldbarth’s "Worlds" is a complex meditation on the overlapping realms of personal history, temporal dislocation, and the enduring nature of symbols. The poem intertwines the historical with the personal, using rich imagery to explore themes of loss, memory, and the passage of time.

Goldbarth begins by referencing the year 1120, a time associated with the Norse explorer Eirik Gnupson, who sailed in search of Vinland. This historical moment serves as a backdrop for the speaker's personal narrative of departure and loss. The flatness of the medieval European world map, with its earth-tone plane and blue braiding over the sides, mirrors the speaker’s own sense of disorientation and stasis. At the moment of deepest hurt, the speaker’s hands are metaphorically stuck halfway through an explanation, just like a watch that has run down and is forever stuck at 11:20. This moment of abandonment becomes a symbol, irrevocably marking the speaker’s sense of time as halted and incomplete.

Goldbarth draws a parallel between the personal symbol of a stopped watch and the symbols of new worlds encountered by the Norse explorers. In the forested lands of their first visits, everyday objects—a pine chest, a knife fresh out of cheese—become imbued with the light of discovery and the significance of new beginnings. These symbols represent the overlap of two worlds, much like how personal moments can exist simultaneously within the depth of chronology and the linear surface of time zones.

The poem then shifts to a present-day scene where a woman with cornsilk hair is leaning against a door jamb, running her hair ends through her lips. This simple act of touch and repetition evokes the same sense of comfort and memory as the speaker’s recollection of a loved one. The woman’s pose, just this side of crumpled, and her repetitive gesture make the speaker think of love’s two enemies: distance and proximity. This duality reflects the tension between the closeness and separation experienced in relationships.

Goldbarth imagines a Viking woman in a cabin door, picking idly at her braid, mirroring the modern woman’s actions. This imagery of simultaneous actions across time highlights the continuity of human experience, transcending what we call calendar years. The antique map, with its edging of monsters, symbolizes the unknown and the fears associated with venturing beyond familiar boundaries. In the past, falling off the edge of the map meant falling into the unknown. Today, the pain of separation and loss is just as real, whether it comes from a line on a map or the passage of time.

Ultimately, "Worlds" is a reflection on how personal and historical moments intertwine, creating a tapestry of symbols and meanings that transcend individual experiences. Goldbarth uses the metaphor of the watch, the pine cone, and the knife to explore how objects become symbols of deeper truths, anchoring us in the continuous flow of time and memory. The poem captures the essence of human longing and the perpetual search for connection, illustrating how our personal histories are intricately woven into the fabric of the larger world.

Copyright (c) 2025 PoetryExplorer

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...