Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Marilyn Mei Ling Chin’s "Barbarians Are Coming" is a fierce, ironic meditation on cultural invasion, gendered violence, and the ways in which identity is shaped by both external labels and internal resistance. Drawing from history, mythology, and philosophical paradox, the poem explores the idea of the barbarian as both a literal threat and a metaphor for domination, assimilation, and the othering of marginalized identities. The refrain—“the barbarians are coming”—echoes throughout the poem, invoking both fear and inevitability, while also revealing the absurdity of rigid distinctions between civilized and barbaric.

The poem begins with an almost cinematic opening: “War chariots thunder, horses neigh, the barbarians are coming.” The imagery is grand, evoking the classical vision of an invading force, reminiscent of the Mongol hordes, the fall of Rome, or countless other moments in history where empires were threatened by outsiders. The phrase is repeated almost breathlessly: “What are we waiting for, young nubile women pointing at the wall, / the barbarians are coming.” This moment introduces the gendered perspective of the poem—young nubile women waiting for an invasion suggests a fear that is both militaristic and sexual. Women, historically, are often the ones left behind in war, the ones who bear the consequences of conquest, whether through violence, displacement, or forced assimilation.

The next lines shift the focus inward: “They have heard about a weakened link in the wall. So, the barbarians / have ears among us.” The mention of a weakened link suggests betrayal or vulnerability—not just a physical breach, but an ideological or cultural one. The wall, a clear reference to China’s Great Wall, becomes symbolic of cultural purity, resistance to outside influence, and the illusion of security. The idea that the barbarians have ears among us implies that they are not just outsiders but also insiders, infiltrators, perhaps even reflections of the self.

The poem then turns toward the individual: “So deceive yourself with illusions: you are only one woman, holding one / broken brick in the wall.” This is both a lament and a challenge. The speaker acknowledges the powerlessness of a single individual in the face of systemic forces, yet the image of one broken brick suggests that even the smallest act of resistance (or complicity) contributes to the larger structure. The next line intensifies this idea: “So deceive yourself with illusions: as if you matter, that brick and that wall.” This can be read as a resignation to fate or a bitter critique of passivity—how much does one person matter in the grand scheme of history? And yet, without individual bricks, the wall itself cannot stand.

The repeated refrain—“The barbarians are coming”—resurfaces, but now with a destabilizing twist: “They have red beards or beardless with a top knot.” This ambiguity expands the scope of the barbarian beyond a singular group—it suggests that invaders take many forms, that barbarianism is a shifting and subjective designation. The next line is even more startling: “The barbarians are coming: they are your fathers, brothers, teachers, lovers; / and they are clearly an other.” Here, Chin exposes the paradox at the heart of identity—the enemy is not some distant, foreign invader, but the men within the speaker’s own community. This suggests that barbarism—whether it be violence, oppression, or domination—is not an external force but something embedded within the very fabric of society. The phrase “and they are clearly an other” drips with irony—if the so-called barbarians are family, teachers, and lovers, then what truly distinguishes civilization from barbarism?

The poem then takes an even more philosophical turn, invoking Zhuangzi, the Daoist philosopher known for questioning the nature of reality and perception. The lines—“If you call me a horse, I must be a horse. / If you call me a bison, I am equally guilty.”—echo the famous Zhuangzi paradox of whether he was a man dreaming he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming he was a man. This suggests that identity is shaped by perception—whether one is seen as barbarian or civilized is ultimately determined by external forces, not by any inherent truth.

The next lines—“When a thing is true and is correctly described, one doubles the blame by / not admitting it: so, Zhuangzi, himself, was a barbarian king!”—mock the rigidity of definitions and the hypocrisy of those who claim authority. If even a revered Chinese philosopher could be called a barbarian king, then the entire premise of civilization versus barbarism collapses under scrutiny. The labels are arbitrary, determined by power rather than by morality.

The poem builds to its provocative conclusion: “Horse, horse, bison, bison, the barbarians are coming— / and how they love to come. / The smells of the great frontier exult in them.” The repetition of horse, horse, bison, bison echoes earlier lines, reinforcing the idea that identity is fluid, performative, and ultimately dictated by those in power. The phrase “how they love to come” carries a sexual undertone, reinforcing the theme of conquest as both military and carnal. The final line—“The smells of the great frontier exult in them.”—conjures a raw, almost primal image. The great frontier suggests expansion, the pushing of boundaries, but also a lawless, untamed space where definitions blur and power dictates truth.

"Barbarians Are Coming" is a poem about control—who defines civilization, who is labeled as other, and who is forced to submit. By blurring the lines between invader and insider, enemy and kin, Chin dismantles the simplistic binaries of history. The barbarians are not just outsiders; they are teachers, fathers, and lovers. Civilization itself is revealed as an illusion, a structure held together by fragile bricks and imposed narratives. The poem’s final, triumphant vision of the great frontier suggests both destruction and possibility—a space where categories collapse, where power is transient, and where history, like identity, is ultimately a matter of perception.

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