Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Here We Go Looby" by John Ashbery presents a surreal and fragmented narrative that plays with language, memory, and perception. The poem opens with a seemingly innocuous question about a tricycle, setting a tone of whimsical nostalgia. However, the poem quickly diverges into a series of disconnected images and scenarios, characteristic of Ashbery’s often nonlinear and dreamlike style.

The reference to a tricycle suggests childhood and innocence, yet this is juxtaposed with more complex and mature themes. The phrase "Here is the church and here is the steeple" recalls a children's rhyme, evoking a sense of playfulness and simplicity. This is contrasted with the "vast hill that recedes under them down to the squirrel's nest," an image that expands the scope from the miniature to the vast, from the human-made to the natural world.

The poem's structure and language reflect a stream of consciousness, with abrupt shifts in focus and perspective. The mention of letters crushed under a pillow and later found floating in a mill race introduces themes of communication, secrecy, and the passage of time. These letters, once hidden and personal, become public and exposed, suggesting a transformation of private thoughts into shared history.

The dialogue and interactions within the poem are enigmatic and disjointed. The mention of "the governor's business" and historical figures like Miles Standish and Priscilla introduces an element of history and authority, while the playful tone continues with talk of doily scissors and scalloped tootsies. The poem blurs the lines between the serious and the trivial, the historical and the personal.

Throughout the poem, there is a sense of displacement and dispossession, as suggested by the speaker's declaration of being "unperched, dispossessed." This could reflect a feeling of alienation or a loss of identity, common themes in Ashbery's poetry.

In the closing lines, the poem returns to its whimsical beginnings, asking about the tricycle and a light switch. This circular structure emphasizes the fluidity of time and memory in the poem. The final image of a drawing on canvas underscores the artifice of the narrative and perhaps suggests that our perceptions and understandings are as constructed and mutable as a work of art.

"Here We Go Looby" is a quintessential Ashbery poem, marked by its playful manipulation of language, its shifting images and ideas, and its exploration of memory, perception, and the fluid boundaries between reality and imagination.

POEM TEXT: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Your_Name_Here/JSt5BAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Where+is+that+tricycle,+man%3F%22+ashbery&pg=PT78&printsec=frontcover

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