Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Full Moon: The Gorge" from "Gorge: Cuernavaca" by Ben Belitt is a rich and complex poem that explores themes of nature, human emotion, and cosmic imagery under the illumination of a full moon. The poem is set in a gorge in Cuernavaca, a place known for its natural beauty, and uses the setting as a backdrop for a deep meditation on the interplay between light and darkness, presence and absence, and the human condition within the vastness of the universe.

The poem begins with a striking image of the full moon, whose "blind side falls toward the Gorge," suggesting a contrast between the moon's illuminated face and its unseen, dark side. This duality sets the tone for the entire poem, as Belitt navigates through the physical landscape of the gorge and the metaphorical landscapes of human emotion and cosmic existence.

Belitt employs vivid imagery to describe how the moonlight transforms the gorge, turning everyday objects like "tin-tops, bottles and glasses" into celestial bodies, "starring the foliage with the constellation of The Pair." This transformation elevates the mundane to the mythic, suggesting a blurring of boundaries between the earthly and the divine, the human and the cosmic.

The poem then shifts to explore themes of fullness and absence, suggesting that the full moon brings a sense of completion or culmination to "all absent things." Belitt delves into the essence of creation and destruction, the cycles of life and death, and the fundamental forces that drive the universe. The imagery of "briny or bloody deluges, sweat-drops, semen and air" evokes the raw materials of life, while references to "parturitive foam" and "fiery paradigms" suggest the creative and destructive powers at work in nature and in human experience.

As the poem progresses, Belitt confronts the darkness that accompanies the light of the full moon, the "underside" of existence where beauty and fatality, creation and destruction, coexist. The gorge under the full moon becomes a symbol for the complexity of life, where love and loss, joy and sorrow, are inextricably linked.

Belitt's use of cosmic and mythological references, from "Canaveral" to Dante's "tiger-taken wood," situates the human experience within a broader cosmic narrative. The poem grapples with the existential questions of identity and purpose, the search for meaning in a universe that is at once beautiful and indifferent.

"Full Moon: The Gorge" is a profound and lyrical exploration of the human condition, set against the backdrop of a natural landscape transformed by the light of the full moon. Through its rich imagery and deep thematic exploration, the poem invites readers to reflect on the beauty and complexity of life, the interplay between light and darkness, and the place of human beings within the vast cosmos.

POEM TEXT: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse?contentId=33031

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