Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

The poem opens with a striking image: light, the fundamental element that sustains life and visibility, "gives up the ghost." This personification of light as a living entity capable of surrendering to an inevitable end sets the tone for the entire piece. The comparison of atoms swarming like locusts across the sky and over the highway further enriches the imagery, suggesting a final, destructive feast on the remnants of the universe. Locusts, often symbols of destruction and famine, here represent the chaotic disintegration of the orderly structures that once defined the cosmos.

As the poem progresses, Cherry describes the air becoming "its own jar and lid," a metaphor for the self-contained, stifling end where the breath of life is snuffed out, and the stars—those ancient beacons of light and guidance—are "suffocated." This imagery evokes a universe collapsing inward, becoming a vacuum where the vitality once shared among all living things is extinguished.

The poem subtly shifts to a more terrestrial focus, describing a blacktop highway stretching from "nowhere to nowhere," symbolizing the futility and aimlessness that pervades at the end. The planet, likened to a Chevrolet spinning its wheels, becomes a poignant emblem of humanity's efforts and advancements: dynamic, yet ultimately stationary and ineffectual against the vast backdrop of the universe.

Time is personified as a sentinel at a "lonely checkpoint," an observer of the final moments. This imagery suggests a pause or a standstill in the relentless march of existence, where time itself becomes a witness to the cessation of all activity. The mention of "empty highway, the cicadas chirring, goldenrod heavy with heat, stubborn, sweating olive trees" invokes a sense of enduring natural beauty amidst desolation, highlighting the resilience and persistence of life even as it faces its end.

Cherry concludes the poem with a return to the cosmic perspective, likening the planet to a "uselessly beautiful" Chevy Impala wheeling among the stars. This comparison brings forth the notion of Earth's inherent beauty and value, irrespective of its utility or the presence of observers. The use of "uselessly beautiful" underscores the idea that the worth of our planet—and, by extension, of life itself—is intrinsic and not contingent upon its productivity or function.

"In the End" is a deeply reflective poem that intertwines the cosmic with the personal, the universal with the specific. Kelly Cherry uses the end of the world not just as an apocalyptic vision but as a lens through which to examine the beauty, transience, and inherent worth of existence. Through its rich imagery and profound contemplation, the poem invites readers to reflect on the end as not just a moment of destruction but as a testament to the enduring beauty of the world and the ephemeral nature of life itself.

POEM TEXT: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Hazard_and_Prospect/aMXCHFLO3kEC?q=&gbpv=1&bsq=IN%20THE%20END#f=false

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