Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Revelation at Hand" by Kelly Cherry is a contemplative poem that grapples with the complexities and disappointments of the closing 20th century, echoing W.B. Yeats's reflections on a century marked by turmoil. Cherry explores the theme of historical repetition, or rather the lack thereof, asserting that while the horrors humanity faces may seem perennial, they are ever-evolving, unique in their devastation, and continuous in their presence. The poem delves into the disillusionment with the notion of progress or redemption from past errors, suggesting that the lessons history teaches are not heeded, and the same or new horrors persist unabated.

The imagery of dark rain falling on red rock, blackening like soot or burned blood, conveys a sense of irreversible damage and contamination—a metaphor for the environmental and moral degradation witnessed in the century. This imagery evokes the disasters of Chernobyl and other catastrophic failures of "scientific empires," highlighting the fatal consequences of human hubris and disregard for natural limits.

Cherry mourns the loss of innocence and the absence of a guiding "child" figure that could lead humanity toward a "new philosophy" or a recovery of lost purity. This absence underscores a collective moral and imaginative bankruptcy, a failure to envision or achieve a better future. The reference to a "drowned country" alludes to a lost ideal, submerged under the "blood-tide" of history's relentless and unforgiving flow.

The poem's closing lines reference the mythological Sphinx, symbolizing enigmatic knowledge and inscrutable truths. The Sphinx's presence in the desert, amidst "winged, turning shadows," suggests the elusive nature of understanding and the human quest for meaning in a world that seems indifferent to human suffering. Cherry implies that any revelation or insight we might seek in the face of century's horrors remains beyond our grasp, embodied in the Sphinx's cryptic form—part lion, part human, wholly inscrutable.

"Revelation at Hand" is a powerful reflection on the human condition at the close of the 20th century, marked by a profound sense of disillusionment and a sobering acknowledgment of humanity's failure to learn from its past. Through vivid imagery and allusion, Cherry captures the existential despair of a time when revelations of progress and enlightenment seem distant, if not altogether unattainable, leaving readers to ponder the path forward in a world scarred by its own history.

POEM TEXT: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse?contentId=40106

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