Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"The Last Movie" by Rachel Hadas is a poignant exploration of loss, memory, and the intersection of personal grief with cultural artifacts. The poem begins with a specific date, "Saturday, April 5," and a reference to Orson Welles’s film "Othello", setting a scene that juxtaposes the intensity of the film with the personal turmoil of the speaker.

The opening line, "Welles’s Othello: black and white grid of rage," immediately immerses the reader in a world of stark contrasts and intense emotions. The "black and white grid" not only describes the film's visual style but also symbolizes the rigid and unforgiving nature of the emotions it portrays—rage and fury, which are echoed in the poem's subsequent lines. The "steam of sheer fury" and the "vent of violence" create a visceral image of pent-up anger and the inevitable eruption of conflict.

The setting of "Othello" with its "wind howled on the battlements" and "sun gilded glum canals" mirrors the tumultuous emotions of the characters and, by extension, the speaker. The lovers "floating beneath black bridges" and being "coupled in stone rooms" evoke a sense of entrapment and doom, a foreboding atmosphere that parallels the narrative of Welles's film and the speaker's own experience.

The transition to a personal memory is marked by the shift to the second stanza, where the speaker recounts a moment of shared viewing and its aftermath: "We lurched out onto Fifty-Seventh Street. / You said 'I think I’m dying.'" This abrupt shift from the film's narrative to the stark reality of impending loss grounds the poem in the speaker's lived experience. The physical act of "lurching" out of the theater suggests a jarring return to reality, underscored by the chilling declaration of mortality.

The poem then delves deeper into the personal with the line, "Next week your eyes went out," signaling the onset of a significant and irreversible change. The transformation of the loved one's "blue gaze, now opaque" and "face drawn sharper but still beautiful" captures the physical decline while preserving the essence of their beauty and presence. This dichotomy of beauty and decay enhances the emotional weight of the poem.

Hadas uses the imagery of books to symbolize the repository of memories and knowledge, which, in the face of loss, become "black glass"—opaque and impenetrable. The loved one's question, "What do I do? Do I throw all these away?" speaks to the helplessness and existential crisis that accompanies profound grief. The books, once sources of comfort and stories, now represent a past that seems disconnected from the present reality.

The final lines of the poem encapsulate the central theme: "Their anecdotes, their comforts—now black glass." This metaphor of transformation from something valuable to something inaccessible and dark highlights the sense of isolation and disconnection that grief brings. The reference to "cozy quicksand of the bed" suggests the allure of surrendering to despair and the struggle to find a way out.

In "The Last Movie," Rachel Hadas masterfully intertwines the narrative of "Othello" with personal tragedy, using vivid imagery and stark contrasts to convey the complexity of grief. The poem reflects on how cultural artifacts like films can evoke powerful emotions and memories, and how these experiences are altered by the shadow of loss. Through her evocative language and poignant reflections, Hadas invites readers to contemplate the interplay between art and life, memory and reality, and the enduring impact of love and loss.

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