Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "Waiting (3)," Robert Creeley contemplates themes of expectation, loss, and the dissonance between internal emotions and external circumstances. The poem captures a sense of yearning and disconnection, exploring how the external world often seems indifferent to inner experiences. Through spare language and atmospheric imagery, Creeley creates a mood of isolation and introspection, where the act of waiting becomes a space for reflecting on absence and unfulfilled desires.

The poem opens with “Waiting for the object, / the abject adjunct,” setting a tone of anticipation but with an immediate sense of ambiguity and discomfort. The “object” being waited for is undefined, which suggests that it could be a tangible item, a person, a feeling, or even an abstract sense of fulfillment. The addition of “the abject adjunct” suggests something secondary or peripheral to this main “object,” yet equally significant in its own right. The word “abject” introduces a sense of degradation or despair, indicating that this waiting is not hopeful but tinged with sorrow or frustration. This combination implies that the speaker is waiting for something elusive, something that might bring completion or resolution but feels diminished by the act of waiting itself.

The phrase “the loss of feel here, / field, faded” expresses a profound sense of detachment and numbness. “Loss of feel” suggests a numbing or dulling of sensation, as though the speaker’s ability to fully engage with the present moment has been eroded. The transition from “feel” to “field” is subtle yet evocative, as it shifts from the internal, personal experience of feeling to an external, open space—a “field” that is now “faded.” This fading might represent the erosion of connection or vitality, an emptiness that stretches across both inner and outer landscapes. By describing the field as faded, Creeley emphasizes a sense of decay or loss of vibrancy, as if the world around the speaker has dulled to mirror their internal state.

The line “Singing inside, / outside grey, wet, / cold out” introduces a stark contrast between the speaker’s internal and external worlds. The act of “singing inside” implies a voice or emotion that remains contained, inwardly directed, perhaps as a way of coping with the sense of isolation. This internal song might represent resilience, a way of maintaining some semblance of life or expression in the face of outer bleakness. Meanwhile, the “grey, wet, / cold out” describes a dreary, unwelcoming atmosphere, underscoring the speaker’s emotional disconnection from their surroundings. The use of these specific, sensory descriptors—grey, wet, cold—captures the physical discomfort of the environment, which seems indifferent to the warmth or vitality that the speaker yearns for internally.

Creeley’s next line, “The weather / doesn’t know it,” introduces the notion of nature’s indifference to human emotions. This statement personifies the weather as something unknowing, implying that the external world operates without regard to individual feelings or struggles. The phrase “doesn’t know it” suggests a lack of awareness or concern, as if the weather—and by extension, the larger forces of the world—continue unaffected by personal turmoil. This indifferent weather serves as a backdrop for the speaker’s internal experience, highlighting the isolation that comes from feeling as though one’s emotions are unacknowledged by the world at large.

The final line, “goes only on to / wherever,” conveys a sense of aimlessness, both in the weather’s relentless movement and, perhaps, in the speaker’s own life. This closing phrase underscores the arbitrary, indifferent nature of the environment, which “goes only on” without purpose or direction. The lack of specificity in “wherever” mirrors the undefined object of waiting introduced at the poem’s start, suggesting that the speaker’s experience of waiting is similarly open-ended and unresolved. This ambiguity leaves the poem without a sense of closure, reflecting the ongoing, unsettled state of the speaker’s emotional landscape.

In "Waiting (3)," Creeley examines the emotional weight of waiting in a world that feels indifferent to personal struggles. The contrast between the internal “singing” and the external “grey, wet, / cold” environment emphasizes the dissonance between human yearning and the unyielding, often unfeeling nature of the world. The poem captures the loneliness that arises from this disconnect, as well as the sense of stagnation and numbness that waiting can induce. Through its sparse language and evocative imagery, "Waiting (3)" becomes a meditation on the unfulfilled spaces of life, where desires remain unmet and the world moves forward “only on to / wherever,” indifferent to individual longing.

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