Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Eleanor Wilner's poem "Transactions in Field That's Overgrown: Call and Response with Merritt" is a lyrical exploration of memory, time, and the evocative power of childhood games. Set at dusk in an overgrown field, the poem captures the ethereal transition from day to night, where the atmosphere becomes charged with a sense of nostalgia and longing.

The poem opens with the description of dusk as an "uncanny" time, where voices carry in the fading light, creating an eerie, almost magical quality. This time of day, with its violet light, plays tricks on the eye, blurring the boundaries between reality and illusion. The moon, described as rising from the mud of the pond to lie on the water's surface like "a splinter of minnows," adds to the surreal and delicate imagery. The moon's presence is fragile, easily disturbed by the slightest breeze, highlighting the transitory nature of the scene.

As night descends, the voices of children playing "Red Rover" fade into the darkness, symbolizing the end of innocence and the passage of time. The poem evokes a sense of melancholy as the day's "brave show" and the "bravado of noon" give way to the uncertainties and quiet of the night. The detailed description of the day's end, from the buzz of insects to the sweating of an ice-filled glass, grounds the reader in the sensory experiences of a summer day, making the transition to night all the more poignant.

The children's game, "Red Rover," serves as a central motif, representing the simplicity and joy of childhood. The repeated call of "Red Rover, Red Rover . . . come over, come over . . ." echoes through the poem, acting as a bridge between the past and the present. This call evokes a longing to return to a time when distance was not measured by time, and the physical and emotional connections were immediate and real.

As the field fades "like Brigadoon," a reference to the mythical Scottish village that appears for only one day every hundred years, the poem underscores the fleeting nature of memory and the enchantment of the past. The twilight brings with it a sense of yearning to relive those moments, to break free and run into the embrace of childhood once more. The damp evening grass and the laughter of children capture the innocence and spontaneity of those days.

The poem concludes with the tender image of mothers' voices calling their children home, a sound that traverses the darkening air of the meadow. This final call serves as a reminder of the protective and nurturing presence of family, grounding the ethereal and nostalgic journey of the poem in the enduring reality of love and care.

Wilner's "Transactions in Field That's Overgrown: Call and Response with Merritt" beautifully weaves together the sensory details of a summer evening with the deeper emotional currents of memory and longing. Through vivid imagery and the evocative motif of a childhood game, the poem captures the bittersweet nature of remembering, where the past is both achingly close and irrevocably distant.

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