Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Karen Fleur Adcock’s "Roles" is a playful yet profound meditation on identity, imagination, and the interplay of modern life with literary tradition. The poem juxtaposes the ordinary domestic life of Emily Brontë—cleaning her car, shopping, and facing work—with the speaker’s romanticized vision of herself embodying Brontë’s iconic image, striding across the Yorkshire moors. In doing so, Adcock highlights the tension between the mundanity of daily life and the aspirations toward artistic or poetic transcendence.

The opening line immediately subverts expectations: “Emily Brontë’s cleaning the car.” This jarring image merges the 19th-century literary icon with a mundane, contemporary chore. The act of scrubbing “frail blood-shapes from the windscreen” juxtaposes the romanticized imagery of Brontë’s tempestuous, gothic landscapes with the gritty, practical realities of modern life. The blood-like stains on the windscreen might evoke the gothic atmosphere of Wuthering Heights, but here, they are reduced to dirt that must be washed away—a symbolic cleansing of romanticized notions in favor of practicality.

Adcock’s tone shifts subtly in the next lines, describing Brontë’s routine: “When it’s done she’ll go to the supermarket; / then, if she has to, face her desk.” These tasks anchor Brontë in the contemporary world, presenting her as a working woman navigating the same banal responsibilities as any other modern individual. This grounded, domestic depiction contrasts sharply with the speaker’s own romanticized self-image, revealing how we often idealize historical figures while ignoring the mundane realities they might have faced.

The second stanza flips the roles, with the speaker casting herself in the role of the Brontë-esque figure. “I’m striding on the moor in my hard shoes,” she declares, adopting the posture and setting associated with Emily Brontë’s creative genius. The imagery of “a shawl over my worsted bodice” and “the hem of my skirt scooping dew from the grass” evokes the Victorian era and its attendant notions of wildness and emotional intensity, underscoring the speaker’s desire to inhabit the mythos of Brontë’s world.

However, Adcock subtly critiques this self-assigned role. The speaker’s panting climb “towards the breathless heights” could symbolize her effort to reach the lofty, poetic ideals she associates with Brontë. Yet, the phrase “breathless heights” also hints at the exhaustion and impracticality of such an endeavor. The poem acknowledges the allure of embodying a literary hero but also the futility of romanticizing their struggles or achievements without context.

The concluding lines underscore the tension between intention and outcome: “I’ll sit on a rock I know and write a poem. / It may not come out as I intend.” This acknowledgment of the unpredictable nature of artistic creation serves as a humbling contrast to the speaker’s earlier grandiose imagery. It reflects the reality that while one might aspire to channel Brontë’s genius or evoke her rugged environment, creativity often defies expectations, producing something unique and unexpected.

Structurally, the poem’s two stanzas balance the contrasting roles: Brontë as a modern, grounded figure and the speaker as a romanticized, fictionalized version of her. The interplay between these two depictions highlights the fluidity of roles and identities. Adcock’s use of enjambment allows the poem to flow naturally, mirroring the seamless blending of historical and contemporary perspectives.

Thematically, "Roles" explores the intersections of identity, creativity, and historical legacy. It challenges readers to reconsider their perceptions of iconic figures, emphasizing that even the most revered artists were ordinary people with mundane lives. At the same time, the poem invites us to embrace the imaginative act of stepping into another’s role, even if only momentarily, as a way to access inspiration or insight.

Adcock’s subtle humor and deft handling of contrasts make "Roles" a rich, layered exploration of how we construct and inhabit identities—both our own and those of the figures we revere. By presenting Emily Brontë as both a mythic figure and a relatable human, the poem bridges the gap between the past and the present, the ordinary and the extraordinary, reminding us that creativity flourishes in both realms.

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