Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Mona Van Duyn’s "For May Swenson" serves as an elegy and tribute to a fellow poet, celebrating May Swenson’s life, artistry, and the distinct imaginative world she inhabited. The poem intertwines themes of creativity, connection to nature, and the transcendence of art, presenting Swenson as a figure who bridged the tangible and the ineffable through her work.

The poem begins with an image of "the world beside this one, imagination’s egg," a metaphor that situates creativity as a parallel existence, distinct yet intertwined with our physical reality. The "egg," symbolizing potential and fragility, encapsulates Swenson’s poetic process: her ability to draw life from the ordinary and elevate it through imaginative re-creation. The use of "cuddle in our orbiting" suggests an intimacy between the artist and the realm of creativity, while the "impermeable shell" acknowledges the elusive and mysterious nature of artistic vision.

Van Duyn draws upon Tibetan Buddhist practices of chanting names to "make a perfect symbolic world," aligning Swenson’s poetic mission with a spiritual act of reimagining and recreating reality. This comparison frames Swenson’s work as a sacred endeavor, transforming everyday objects into symbols of deeper meaning, much like the chants invoke a meditative recreation of the world. The reference to moonflowers, shells, and turquoise evokes both beauty and permanence, suggesting Swenson’s poems capture fleeting moments and render them eternal.

The poem transitions to Swenson’s biography, depicting her as a child emerging from a "sprawling Mormon family" and finding her life’s purpose "in a slough of words." This image of dredging words from a "slough" resonates with Swenson’s poetic ethos—digging through the raw and unpolished material of existence to uncover beauty and truth. Her name, "May," reflects both the promise of spring and her ability to evoke freshness and vitality in her work.

Swenson’s love for the natural world—its "furred, winged, three-toed, four-toed, finned beings"—is highlighted as central to her identity. Her connection to animals and nature, coupled with her passion for poetry, forms the core of her creative and personal life. The grant that allowed her a year of "warmth and animals" is portrayed as a fulfillment of her desires, aligning her physical surroundings with her spiritual and artistic values. The mention of "the Great Bird" symbolizes a union of the natural and the transcendent, suggesting Swenson’s art connected her to something larger than herself.

The poem’s tone shifts as it approaches Swenson’s death. Van Duyn imagines her final moments as serene and purposeful, infused with the same attentiveness that defined her poetry. The "tick, tick, tick" of a bird’s beak recalls Swenson’s lifelong fascination with the natural world and its rhythms, suggesting a continuity between her life and her passing. The "star-shaped beam of light" becomes a transformative moment, a portal through which Swenson moves "quietly to that shining, intimate open place in the shell." This "place" symbolizes the culmination of her life’s work—a return to the source of creativity and imagination that had sustained her.

Van Duyn’s language is precise and evocative, mirroring Swenson’s own poetic style. The poem’s structure flows seamlessly, moving from broad metaphysical reflections to intimate biographical details, and finally to a transcendent conclusion. This progression mirrors the arc of Swenson’s life, from her childhood and creative beginnings to her deep engagement with the world and her eventual departure.

In "For May Swenson," Van Duyn not only honors the poet’s legacy but also reflects on the enduring power of art to bridge the finite and the infinite. Swenson is celebrated as a true artist and hermit, whose solitary dedication to poetry and nature allowed her to create a body of work that continues to "breathe the forms that come forth fresh from their fiery making." Van Duyn’s tribute captures the essence of Swenson’s life and art, offering a meditation on the ways in which creativity sustains and transcends human existence.

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