Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Good News" by Linda Gregerson is a rich and complex exploration of faith, disillusionment, and the human search for meaning in a world rife with suffering and loss. Through vivid imagery and compelling narrative, Gregerson delves into the lives of individuals grappling with their faith and the realities of their existence.

The poem opens with a litany of the disenfranchised: "The hobbled, the halt, the hasten-to-blame-it-on-childhood / crowd, the undermined and over- / their-heads, the hapless, / the humbugs, / the hassle-me-nots." This catalog sets the stage for a discussion of those who struggle to find solace or purpose, encapsulating a broad spectrum of human frailty and discontent.

Gregerson introduces Uncle Jens, a character who embodies the struggle with faith and despair: "The night / before the night my uncle Jens saw Jesus / standing in the hayloft, he... considered cashing the whole thing in." Jens, dealing with profound personal loss and a sense of futility, contemplates giving up. The phrase "Bettina gone / the way she had, the boys all gone to hell" suggests deep familial and personal failures that weigh heavily on him.

In a desperate act of faith, Jens gives all his money to a local charismatic preacher and receives the advice to forgive himself: "So Jens / gave all his money to the local charis- / matic, / and in exchange his fellow faithful told him / to forgive himself." This moment highlights the transactional nature of certain religious practices and the hollow solace they sometimes offer.

The poem then shifts to a broader commentary on the commercialization of faith: "God's godforsaken children / all over the suburbs and the country- / side are dying in the service of a market share." This line critiques the way faith is marketed and commodified, drawing a parallel to the life of a former college friend who now performs faith healing in Tennessee: "Witness the redhead I used to go to college with, who played / the trombone and studied Kant and now / performs the laying on of hands somewhere / in eastern / Tennessee."

Gregerson contrasts this with Jens' more tragic trajectory. Despite his attempts to find solace through faith, Jens' life continues to unravel: "But Jens, / whose otherworldliness imperfectly / cohered, took to driving his pickup off the road." His erratic behavior reflects his internal turmoil and the inadequacy of the spiritual comfort he sought. The image of Jens causing harm to cousin Ollie's cornfield and the hens running loose adds a layer of chaos and futility to his actions.

The poem shifts focus to the speaker's three-year-old daughter, who has learned about death and is now "scouring / the visible world for a sign." Her innocent yet earnest quest for understanding highlights the pervasive and often unsettling presence of mortality: "death on her / dinnerplate, death in the grass." The Archbishop's smooth assurance that "most Englishmen... are still residual / Christians" contrasts sharply with the child's raw and visceral fear, underscoring the disconnect between institutional religion and individual experience.

The televangelist's "plexiglass pulpit" and "crystal veil / of his tears" symbolize the sanitized and commodified nature of modern faith practices, promising a "frictionless story that washes us clean." This depiction critiques the superficiality and emptiness of such religious experiences, which offer words "dis-encumbered of contingency, / of history, of doubt."

Gregerson concludes with a powerful evocation of the old believers' faith in "God's wounds," suggesting that even as contemporary society swears by sex or profanity, the deep need for meaning and salvation remains: "God's wounds, / which failures of attention made." This line encapsulates the poem's exploration of faith's complexities and the human desire for redemption and understanding in a flawed and often harsh world.

"Good News" by Linda Gregerson is a profound meditation on faith, suffering, and the search for meaning. Through its rich imagery and nuanced narrative, the poem invites readers to reflect on the nature of belief and the ways in which individuals navigate their spiritual and existential journeys amidst the challenges of contemporary life.

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