Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Get Me Rewrite" by John Ashbery is a poem that embodies the poet's characteristic playfulness with language and imagery, creating a surreal, dream-like narrative. Ashbery's poetry often eschews conventional structure and narrative coherence, opting instead for a collage of images and ideas that evoke emotions and thoughts rather than tell a linear story.

The poem opens with the "ghoulish resonance of a cello" in a neighbor’s cabana, immediately setting a scene that is both familiar and eerie. This juxtaposition of the mundane (a neighbor's cabana) with the uncanny (ghoulish resonance) is typical of Ashbery's approach, blending the everyday with the surreal.

The speaker's admission of sitting on a pile of dirt in a neighbor’s backyard introduces a sense of aimlessness or a search for meaning in seemingly trivial activities. This motif of exploring the ordinary to find something extraordinary is a recurring theme in Ashbery's work.

The reference to childhood memories, as seen in "Long ago we crept for candy through the neighbor’s gutter," suggests nostalgia and a longing for simpler times. However, this nostalgia is subverted by the discovery of only "candy wrappers of an unknown species," turning the fond memory into something more complex and ambiguous.

The imagery of candy fluttering "in the prismatic light above a clothesline" and then undressing is whimsically surreal, typical of Ashbery’s style. It disrupts the reader’s expectations and challenges conventional notions of what poetry can be.

The scene with the bucket of water and fingerposts pointing to "the next phenomenon" evokes a sense of continuous searching and the desire to experience new sensations or understandings, yet there’s an underlying dissatisfaction, as "None of us was really satisfied."

The "shadows of an industrial park" and the "brass sky" create a contrast between the industrial, man-made world and the natural, elemental sky, perhaps commenting on the tension between human progress and the natural world.

The character of Reuel, introduced as a commanding figure, brings a human element to the poem, grounding its abstractions in interpersonal dynamics. The comparison to the poet Lenz, who seemingly moves without his legs being seen, adds another layer of surrealism.

The poem’s concluding lines, "Ah, it is good to be back in the muck," suggest a return to reality or the mundane, yet with a newfound appreciation or understanding gleaned from the surreal journey the poem has taken the reader on.

Overall, "Get Me Rewrite" is a quintessential Ashbery poem, characterized by its playful use of language, its collage of vivid images, and its exploration of the boundaries between the real and the surreal. The poem invites multiple interpretations and encourages readers to find their own meanings in its rich tapestry of ideas.

Copyright (c) 2025 PoetryExplorer

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...