Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Adam Zagajewski’s "My Aunts" is an affectionate yet subtly melancholic portrait of a group of women whose lives revolve around the "practical side of life," a phrase repeated twice in the poem with both admiration and quiet irony. The poem explores the tension between the practical and the poetic, between the everyday world of domestic labor and the unseen realms of thought and transcendence. In the lives of these women, mystery is not found in philosophy or abstract ideas but embedded in the material world, in cupboards, kitchen gardens, and lavender sachets tucked into linen closets. The poem suggests that there is a beauty, even a kind of unconscious poetry, in their work, but also a limitation—an inability to look beyond the immediate demands of household and tradition.

From the beginning, the poet frames the aunts as grounded, pragmatic figures: "Always caught up in what they called / the practical side of life / (theory was for Plato)." This dismissive reference to "theory" establishes them as people for whom abstract thought has little place; their world is one of tangible concerns. Plato, the philosopher of ideals and forms, represents an intellectual sphere far removed from their daily preoccupations. Instead, they are "up to their elbows in furniture, in bedding, / in cupboards and kitchen gardens." The imagery here is both humorous and evocative—these are women whose lives are deeply embedded in domestic maintenance, in objects and routines that form the fabric of home life.

Yet even in their devotion to practicality, there is an unexpected moment of tenderness: "they never neglected the lavender sachets / that turned a linen closet to a meadow." The mention of lavender, a traditionally soothing and aromatic herb, introduces a sensory beauty into their otherwise functional world. This detail suggests that even in the midst of duty and obligation, they have preserved something gentle and ephemeral—a small gesture of grace, of poetry hidden within the folds of the mundane.

The second stanza deepens the paradox of the "practical side of life," comparing it to "the Moon’s unlighted face." This striking simile implies that while their concerns may seem purely material, they contain hidden depths, unseen complexities. The notion that "when Christmastime drew near, / life became pure praxis" playfully emphasizes how, during the holidays, life itself transforms into a flurry of activity, completely absorbed in preparations. The use of the philosophical term "praxis"—meaning practical application rather than theory—reinforces their single-minded devotion to the material world. During this time, "life... resided temporarily in hallways, / took refuge in suitcases and satchels." The phrasing here suggests both movement and disorder, as if the very essence of life is displaced by the demands of the season.

A shift occurs in the third stanza, where death intrudes upon this world of practical order: "And when somebody died—it happened / even in our family, alas— / my aunts, preoccupied / with death’s practical side, / forgot at last about the lavender." Death, like life, is something to be managed, something that has a "practical side." The humor in this observation is subtle but pointed—just as they busied themselves with furniture and linen, they now busy themselves with the logistics of mourning, ensuring that even loss is met with efficiency. However, the lavender sachets, symbols of small, quiet beauty, are forgotten beneath "a heavy snow of sheets." This image of the sachets buried under linens suggests not only physical neglect but also a metaphorical one—the small traces of gentleness and poetry in their lives are momentarily lost under the weight of obligation and ritual.

The final lines mark a departure from the aunts’ world and turn inward to the speaker’s own experience. "Don't just do something, sit there." This inversion of the common phrase "Don't just sit there, do something," humorously critiques the hyper-practicality of the aunts while also offering an alternative mode of existence—one of stillness, reflection, and observation. The speaker then confirms: "And so I have, so I have, / the seasons curling around me like smoke, / Gone to the end of the earth and back without sound."

These concluding lines suggest that the speaker, unlike the aunts, has chosen a life of contemplation rather than action. The "seasons curling around me like smoke" convey a sense of passive witnessing, of time passing without interference. The phrase "Gone to the end of the earth and back without sound" could imply an internal or philosophical journey, a quiet search for meaning in contrast to the constant busyness of the aunts. It also suggests that while they have spent their lives immersed in the tangible, the speaker has engaged with the intangible—perhaps the kind of theoretical, poetic existence they dismissed.

"My Aunts" is a poem that navigates between affectionate observation and subtle critique. The aunts represent a world of duty and obligation, where life is measured by what is done rather than what is contemplated. Yet within their routines, there are traces of something more—small gestures like the lavender sachets, which suggest an unconscious appreciation of beauty. The poem ultimately contrasts their engagement with life’s "practical side" with the speaker’s more introspective approach, questioning whether one way of being is more meaningful than the other. In the end, Zagajewski does not dismiss the aunts’ devotion to practical life; rather, he illuminates its quiet mysteries while acknowledging the longing for something beyond it.

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