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Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained | |||
"Visitation: 1" by Paul Blackburn is a reflective and evocative poem that captures a moment of urban contemplation and the sudden intrusion of memory and sensation into the mundane journey to work. Through precise imagery and thoughtful observation, Blackburn navigates the reader through the streets of an autumnal New York, weaving together the present landscape with flashes of broader, more universal experiences. The poem opens with the "Magic of morning," immediately setting a tone of quiet wonder as the speaker walks "thru the autumn of west 24th St.," his tardiness to work lending a leisurely pace to his observations. The "sunburst sidewalk" and the cold air juxtaposed with sunlight on the walls paint a vivid picture of the city in fall, grounding the reader in the physical reality of the moment. Blackburn’s attention to the details underfoot—the "broken bits / of color glistening in sun like frozen / smashed Christmastree decorations"—transforms mundane litter into something momentarily beautiful, akin to jewels or art. This transformation of the ordinary into the extraordinary through the act of careful observation is a recurring motif throughout the poem. The sudden shift from the contemplative observation of beauty to the "reality" of work, symbolized by the barrels and printed sheets for the binder, serves as a reminder of the day's obligations. Yet, even within this reminder, Blackburn finds depth and connection to a wider world, invoking images of "docks, warehouses, ship's hold, longshoremen," and the craftsmanship of coopers. This expansion of perspective from the immediate to the global and historical underscores the interconnectedness of human labor and culture. The reflection on the barrels, "not / those that bought their transit, raked the profit in, / but a cooper's dream of death," suggests a meditation on the value of work and the products of human hands, contrasting the physical creation with the abstracted business of commerce. The imagery of the barrels being burnt, "unUSE again, U N U S E," evokes a sense of waste and the cyclical nature of creation and destruction. As the speaker moves through the park, the remnants of nature in the city—raked piles of leaves, the "tender drooping spray from the fountain"—are marred by litter, yet another layer of urban reality. The mention of "heaped leaves burning at roadside" and the "air blue / acrid" connects the immediate experience with memories of countryside autumns, blending the urban and rural in a shared sensory memory. The poem closes with a yearning for escape from the immediate confines of the city and the speaker's current life, "I / wish I were far from here." This desire for distance, both physical and emotional, encapsulates the poem's exploration of the tension between the beauty found in everyday moments and the underlying currents of dissatisfaction and longing for something more. "Visitation: 1" is a poignant reflection on the complexity of urban life, the beauty that can be found in ordinary moments, and the human capacity for memory and yearning. Through Blackburn's keen observations and lyrical language, the poem invites readers to consider their own interactions with the world around them and the layers of meaning that can be uncovered in even the most mundane of experiences. POEM TEXT: https://writing.upenn.edu/epc/authors/blackburn/blackburn_visitation.html
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