Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Hang-Up Call" by John Ashbery is a poem that intricately weaves together elements of absurdity, disorientation, and introspection. Ashbery’s signature style of blending the surreal with the mundane is evident here, creating a narrative that is both enigmatic and strangely relatable.

The poem opens with the word “Preposterous,” immediately setting a tone of incredulity and whimsy. This word, admired for its “overtones of thrift and conviction,” suggests a clash between the sensible and the absurd, a theme that runs throughout the poem. The speaker's nonchalant attitude towards the word and its user hints at a deeper sense of detachment or disconnection from the situation.

As the poem progresses, the speaker finds themselves amid a regatta, a setting that conjures images of leisure and spectacle. However, the confusion between the ships and the regatta suggests a blurred perception of reality, a motif common in Ashbery’s work. The speaker is approached by “every restful person,” a phrase that paradoxically combines tranquility with the act of questioning, further adding to the poem’s surreal quality.

The speaker’s admission of having ideas that wouldn’t interest the listener “by a country mile” reinforces this sense of alienation and introspection. The mention of an antidote for disappearing ink, containing mummy, is quintessentially Ashberian—mixing the mundane with the bizarre and the ancient. This image serves as a metaphor for the attempt to grasp the ephemeral or make sense of the nonsensical.

Ashbery’s exploration of identity and memory is evident as the speaker recounts waking up in a foreign place, disoriented and with a physical injury. This scene is symbolic of a sudden thrust into an unfamiliar situation or a life that one doesn't recognize as their own. The mention of press gangs in Bristol invokes a historical method of forced recruitment, further emphasizing themes of control and loss of agency.

The poem's concluding lines, where the speaker demands their pants and money, suggests a desire to return to normalcy or escape the absurdity they find themselves in. The mention of others crying adds a layer of empathy or connection to the human condition, amidst the overall surreal and disjointed narrative.

In summary, "Hang-Up Call" is a quintessential Ashbery poem that challenges conventional narrative structures and meaning-making. It invites the reader into a world where the absurd coexists with the mundane, and meaning is both elusive and omnipresent. The poem’s disorienting imagery and conversational tone create a dreamlike atmosphere that reflects the complexities of human consciousness and perception.

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