Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Love in the Water, Love in the Stone," by Jay Wright, is a deeply symbolic and richly layered exploration of love, identity, and transformation. The poem?s voice moves fluidly between personal devotion and universal myth, weaving together imagery of nature, ritual, and human connection to create a profound meditation on the interplay of love, memory, and selfhood.

The opening lines immediately situate the reader in a space of reverence and intimacy. The speaker addresses the "faithful bean lady of the plantain," evoking a figure who embodies sustenance, tradition, and fertility. Her "tubular beads" surround the speaker?s voice, suggesting a connection between the tactile and the spiritual, the material and the ethereal. The invocation of a "berry song so old" introduces the theme of timelessness, while the act of embracing silence conveys a deep respect for the unspoken and the eternal. In this light, the speaker sees themselves reflected, drawn into the "tangle of the river?s bottom," an image that merges self-discovery with the natural world’s complexity.

As the poem progresses, the speaker?s relationship to this figure and to their own identity deepens. The line "Knee-deep in another?s bliss / I wake and find myself a stone" captures a profound paradox: the speaker is both immersed in the joy of another and rendered inert, reduced to a stone at the feet of their lover. Yet this transformation is not static; "stone upon stone, / I rise into another?s fire," signaling a rebirth through the layers of experience and connection. The imagery of "palm oil flesh" and "thunder" emphasizes the physical and elemental forces that drive this transformation, blending sensuality with natural power. The act of rising "under your thunder, into rain" suggests renewal and praise, a submission to forces larger than the self.

The second stanza shifts to a broader temporal and cultural frame. The speaker describes their existence as "a life-long a laterite," grounding themselves in the earthy and enduring. The "rain of beads" and "palm kernel oil" evoke ceremonial imagery, tying the speaker to traditions that mark time and celebrate life’s transitions. The earth weaving "eight gold bridal veils / to cast into the sea" suggests a ritual offering, perhaps symbolizing the cycles of love, loss, and union. The speaker?s nakedness, revealed under the moon "at noon," conveys vulnerability and transcendence, while the image of dancing drunkenly with a ram blends the primal with the celebratory, the sacred with the profane. The speaker acknowledges their own excesses—"I use the loom of seasons so; / I abuse myself"—suggesting a recognition of human flaws within the cosmic rhythm.

The speaker’s devotion is further complicated by their acknowledgment of distance and survival. The line "even if I leave you, / I marry your worship in my wife?s voice" reveals the enduring presence of the addressed figure, even as the speaker moves into other relationships. Love becomes a layered experience, with memory and ritual sustaining the speaker. The phrase "your memories feed me" underscores the sustaining power of the past, while "these are my intolerable survivals" suggests the weight of love’s enduring imprint. The speaker’s journey is one of navigating this duality: the presence and absence of love, its immediate and eternal forms.

The poem?s final lines bring the speaker to a place of profound surrender and transcendence. "I mount my woman?s earth smell / in the shadows of your ageless eyes" merges the physical and the spiritual, tying the act of love to the timeless and universal. The image of crawling to the "altar of your thunderstones" conveys a sense of awe and submission, while the act of bleeding "for the bride whose blood / will fill my name" signifies both sacrifice and creation. This closing gesture encapsulates the poem?s central tension: love as a force that both consumes and renews, that ties the individual to something greater while grounding them in their own humanity.

"Love in the Water, Love in the Stone" is a testament to the transformative power of love, memory, and ritual. Jay Wright’s use of vivid imagery and layered symbolism creates a rich tapestry that invites the reader to reflect on their own connections to the elemental forces that shape life and love. The poem?s interplay between personal experience and universal themes offers a profound meditation on the enduring and transformative nature of human connection.

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