Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"When Pressed" by John Ashbery delves into the complex interplay of memory, time, and perception, themes that are recurrent in his work. The poem unfolds in a series of images and questions that evoke a sense of nostalgia and ambiguity, characteristic of Ashbery's style.

The opening lines, "Why has the sailor come in / loo late? What star waters the garden?" immediately establish a dreamlike atmosphere, blending the mundane with the mystical. The sailor's late arrival and the star watering the garden are images that seem to exist outside of conventional reality, suggesting a world where the ordinary and the extraordinary coexist.

The phrase "You do intelligent things / at the first juxtaposition" might refer to the human tendency to seek order and meaning in the chaos of experience. This idea of juxtaposition could also be a meta-commentary on Ashbery's own poetic method, which often relies on placing disparate images and ideas next to each other to create new meanings.

The mention of luck as "the composite of all these forces" suggests that life's outcomes are the result of a complex interplay of various elements, rather than being solely under individual control. This perspective reflects a theme common in Ashbery's poetry: the unpredictability and uncontrollability of life.

The imagery of a lunch through mist on a Sunday, the ivy-written letter, and the great-uncle introduces a narrative element, but it remains fragmented and elusive, typical of Ashbery's approach to storytelling. These images evoke a sense of the past infiltrating the present, yet the details remain hazy, reflecting the unreliable nature of memory.

Ashbery's line, "Return me to that sense which I don’t know," speaks to the longing for a lost or unknown past, a desire to connect with something beyond current understanding. This yearning for connection and meaning in a world that is often incomprehensible is a recurring motif in his work.

The poem concludes with an image of discontinuation, leaving the reader with a sense of unresolved narrative and thematic threads. This open-endedness is a hallmark of Ashbery's poetry, inviting the reader to engage actively in the creation of meaning.

Overall, "When Pressed" is a contemplative and evocative piece that exemplifies Ashbery's unique style. It challenges the reader to embrace the uncertainty and complexity of experience, blending the real and the imagined in a tapestry of poetic imagery.

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