Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Song of Three Smiles" by William Stanley Merwin presents a compelling exploration of love's complexities, from its transient joys to its inevitable shortcomings and misunderstandings. The poem is steeped in the traditions of lyrical poetry, weaving through themes of memory, desire, and the ambivalence of human emotion. It captures moments of unalloyed connection and contrasts them with a sense of yearning and disconnect.

The opening stanza, "Let me call a ghost, / Love, so it be little: / In December we took / No thought for the weather," recalls an episode of intense intimacy and abandonment of worldly concerns. "December," often symbolic of the end or winter of one's life, is juxtaposed against a love that disregards time and external conditions. This beginning sets up a contrast between the personal and universal, capturing the paradox that even the grandest human emotions are but fleeting in the grand scope of existence.

"Whom now shall I thank / For this wealth of water? / Your heart loves harbors / Where I am a stranger," the poem continues, articulating a sense of alienation despite the depths of love once experienced. The "wealth of water" might symbolize emotional richness, but it also implies separation-as in oceans or harbors. The poet finds himself now a "stranger" in places where he once found comfort and love.

The line "Where was it we lay / Needing no other / Twelve days and twelve nights / In each other's eyes?" brings forth the theme of idyllic love, of a time when both parties were so absorbed in each other that they were oblivious to everything else. However, the question also subtly suggests a lapse of memory or a questioning of reality, asking "Where was it?" as if that utopia might now seem like a dream.

Merwin references Babel, a biblical event often symbolizing misunderstanding and division, remarking how during those days, "We spoke our own tongue / Needing no other." The paradox here is striking-the universal symbol of linguistic and communicative confusion serves as a backdrop to a deeply personal language of love that needed no translation.

The latter part of the poem delves into darker territory. "If a seed grow green / Set a stone upon it / That it learn thereby / Holy charity," seems to speak to the idea of emotional or personal growth being stifled or weighed down by some burden-perhaps the burden of loss or change. And the disquieting lines, "If you must smile / Always on that other, / Cut me from ear to ear / And we all smile together," close the poem on a note of cruel irony, emphasizing the insurmountable gap between the love that was and what it has now become.

"Song of Three Smiles" engages its readers in a rich emotional tapestry. It delves deep into the universal human experiences of love and loss, but also the deeply personal nuances that make each love story unique yet inherently tragic. Merwin's masterful use of symbolic language and lyrical style makes the poem a thought-provoking read, challenging us to confront the complexities of our emotional landscapes.

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