Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Colophon" by Dean Young is a reflective and evocative meditation on mortality, transformation, and the cyclical nature of life, articulated through the vivid lens of the natural world. The poem interweaves observations of autumn's impact on insects and plants with a deeply personal contemplation of the speaker's own existence and eventual demise, culminating in a poignant acknowledgment of life's impermanence and the enduring cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.

Young begins with an appreciation for the bees "this time of year," those sated or perhaps intoxicated from their summer-long labor among the flowers. This image of the bees, both relentless in their pursuit and vulnerable in their intoxication, serves as a metaphor for the human condition—driven by desires and duties, yet inevitably facing the limitations of our own nature and the approach of winter, or metaphorically, the end of life.

The poem then delves into a deeper exploration of mortality, likening the speaker's eventual death to that of a bee trapped in dish soap—both a tragic and a mundane end. This comparison highlights the fragility of life and the common fate shared by all living beings, regardless of their complexity or the scale of their endeavors.

As the speaker imagines their own end, there is a shift towards acceptance and even relief at the cessation of struggle. The imagery of "my wings wet capes and not working" and "antennae slicked back and not working" conveys a surrender to the inevitable, a letting go of the ceaseless striving that characterizes both the bee's existence and human life.

The final verses of the poem are a meditation on the moment of transition, as the speaker, likened to a bee, approaches a tomato on the windowsill—the "reddest, softest / island of my last planet, last aureola." This image, rich with the symbolism of ripeness and finality, captures the essence of a life lived to its fullest, approaching its end not with fear, but with a recognition of its natural place within the larger cycle of life.

Young's "Colophon" concludes with a reflection on the approach of winter, the "tree indicating wildly, each leaf woke / in orange outcry," and the inevitable solitude and perishing of the speaker's "barbarous kind." Yet, even in the face of death, there is a sense of continuity, of life's enduring rhythms—rain coming and going, a chill signaling the dormant period before the rebirth of spring.

Through "Colophon," Dean Young crafts a powerful ode to the beauty and brutality of nature, the inevitability of death, and the profound connections that bind us to the world around us. The poem is a reminder of our own mortality, our part in the endless cycle of life, and the grace that can be found in accepting our place within it.

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