Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "Clochard," Wis?awa Szymborska paints an intricate portrait of a Parisian vagabond, who stands as a timeless representation of the dispossessed. Set against a Paris that defies description, this clochard-or homeless person-is paradoxically situated in a garden by a cathedral, spaces typically associated with spiritual and aesthetic elevation. Yet, even in this context, he "sleeps sprawled like a knight in effigy," evoking a statue that usually commemorates a person of social or political importance. This irony serves to highlight the societal invisibility of the clochard while, at the same time, elevating him to a monumental status.

The poem proceeds to emphasize the clochard's detachment from material and social obligations. "If he ever owned anything, he has lost it, and having lost it doesn't want it back." The lines about being owed soldier's pay for the conquest of Gaul and posing as the thief on Christ's left hand offer a surreal but poignant view into the man's transcendence over historical and religious reckonings. It's as if the man exists outside the constraints of time; he isn't waiting for recompense, recognition, or even history to acknowledge him.

Szymborska introduces the intriguing detail that he "earns his red wine by trimming the neighborhood dogs." This shows a connection to the living world around him, albeit one based on minimal subsistence. But it is his dreams that appear to be his most significant contribution. He sleeps "with the air of an inventor of dreams," suggesting an inner life that is rich and fertile, even if outwardly he seems impoverished.

The transformation of the cathedral's gray chimeras into a fantastical menagerie serves as the poem's emotional crux. These mythical figures "unpetrify" and examine the clochard with a curiosity "they never turn on me or you." Here, the clochard becomes a mystical figure, eliciting a wonder even from creatures born out of religious and artistic imagination. The chimeras represent an "omnibestial Gothic allegro vivace," a teeming life force animated by the man's mere presence.

The poem closes with the names "prudent Peter, zealous Michael, enterprising Eve, Barbara, Clare," reflecting archetypal human traits and Saintly figures-perhaps indicating that the clochard is both a universal human and a kind of lay saint, honored not in churches but in the simple acts of existence.

Overall, "Clochard" is a poetic study of a life that exists on the peripheries of social and historical concern but is nonetheless imbued with a sense of mystery and reverence. The poem challenges conventional understandings of worth and dignity, forcing us to consider how we perceive-and perhaps overlook-the extraordinary within the seemingly ordinary.

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