Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "Mocking-Bird", Ignatius Royston Dunnachie Campbell creates a surreal and introspective exploration of trauma, memory, and the inner workings of the mind. The poem is set in a hospital ward, where the speaker, seemingly wounded and delirious, experiences a haunting vision of a strange blue bird, which becomes a symbol of unresolved conflict and inner turmoil. Campbell uses vivid, unsettling imagery to convey the tension between the need for peace and the persistent intrusion of the mind’s darker memories.

The opening lines immediately establish a sense of fragility and decay: "Like an old Cobra broken with a stick, / As in the ward with other crocks I lay." The comparison of the speaker to a "broken" cobra suggests both vulnerability and latent danger. The cobra, once a symbol of power and menace, has been subdued, much like the speaker, who lies in the hospital ward with others in a similarly weakened state. The image of "flies on the roof" counting their "sole arithmetic" further emphasizes the stagnant, repetitive nature of time in this place, where the wounded wait for something beyond their control.

The appearance of the "strange blue bird" introduces an element of the surreal. The bird, described as being "born of my wound, or out of Bosch remembered," ties the speaker’s vision to both personal suffering and the nightmarish, chaotic imagery of Hieronymus Bosch’s art. The bird seems to represent the lingering effects of trauma, either from the speaker’s own injury or from memories of war ("Bosch remembered"). Its "fierce look" and "eyes... embered" suggest that this bird has witnessed something catastrophic, as if it has seen the Fall—perhaps a metaphor for the loss of innocence or the destructive nature of war.

The speaker’s initial reaction to the bird is one of fear and resistance: "'Shoo!' I cried, 'you phantom, fade away!'" The bird’s presence is unwelcome in the speaker’s world of "canyons forested with sleep," where the depths of unconsciousness should offer solace. The bird, with its "triumphal pinion" and "bloodshot gaze," embodies the violent memories and strife that the speaker is trying to escape. Its cry is described as the "laughing mockery of Life," a raucous, jarring sound that disrupts the desired peace of sleep and healing.

However, the speaker's resistance is short-lived. As the bird begins to fly away, the speaker feels a compulsion to follow: "A will was born where all things else were hollow." This line marks a shift in the speaker’s attitude, as the mocking bird, once a disturbing intrusion, becomes something to be pursued. The bird leads the speaker through "caverns of ancestral cedar," an image that evokes the depths of the unconscious mind, where ancient and unresolved fears lie hidden. The speaker is drawn into these dark recesses, guided by the bird's "voice of mocking laughter."

The final image of the bird as the "blue hallucination of a jay" brings the poem to a close with an air of ambiguity. The bird is both real and unreal, a product of the speaker’s delirium and inner turmoil. Its mocking laughter continues to echo through the caverns of the speaker’s mind, leading them deeper into the labyrinth of memory and trauma.

Ultimately, "Mocking-Bird" is a haunting exploration of the mind’s capacity to conjure visions that blur the line between reality and hallucination. The blue bird serves as a symbol of the speaker’s unresolved internal struggles, born from physical and emotional wounds. Campbell masterfully uses surreal and disturbing imagery to convey the tension between the desire for peace and the inescapable pull of memory and strife, leaving the reader with a sense of the speaker's ongoing battle to reconcile these opposing forces.

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