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Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained | |||
In Robert Duncan's poem "What I Saw," the imagery is evocative and symbolically rich, linking the natural world to mythological and religious symbols. The poem's focus is on a moment of epiphany, conveyed through the observation of a white peacock, which the speaker relates to multiple cultural and spiritual symbols. The poem opens with the image of a "white peacock roosting" which the speaker suggests "might have been Christ," immediately imbuing the scene with a sacred quality. This association is potent, connecting the purity and rarity of the white peacock to the figure of Christ, a symbol of divinity and redemption in Christian symbolism. The peacock has long been a symbol in Christian iconography, traditionally representing eternal life and the all-seeing church, with the 'eyes' in its tail feathers symbolizing the omniscience of God. Duncan doesn't stop at Christian imagery. He extends the symbol to include "Osiris," an Egyptian deity associated with the afterlife, resurrection, and regeneration. The "featherd robe of Osiris" suggests majesty and the divine aspect of rulership and transition between life and death, which the peacock’s plumage evocatively symbolizes with its vibrant and life-affirming colors—even when rendered in white, the essence of all colors combined. The peacock is described as "the radiant bird, a sword-flash," which further layers the imagery with notions of sharpness, brilliance, and sudden illumination, much like a revelation or a divine vision appearing to a seer. This "sword-flash" could also hint at the swift and penetrating power of divine truth, cutting through ignorance and illusion. Duncan sets this vivid, almost supernatural sighting against a backdrop of ordinary elements described as "the other, the fumed-glass slide." This phrase likely refers to a contrasting image or moment, possibly suggesting a slide under a microscope or a photographic slide that reveals a less striking, more mundane reality. The duality established between the extraordinary and the ordinary mirrors the poem's fluctuation between day and night, sacred and common, observed and experienced. The poem concludes with "the slit of an eye opening in / time / vertical to the horizon." This image of an eye opening suggests awakening, both literal and metaphorical. It could represent a sudden insight or realization, a moment of vision or understanding that aligns vertically with the horizon, perhaps indicating a connection between the earthly and the divine, the temporal and the eternal. Overall, Duncan's "What I Saw" captures a fleeting, profound observation that bridges the natural world with the realm of myth and spirituality. Through the symbolic figure of the white peacock, the poem delves into themes of vision, revelation, and the thin line between the everyday and the miraculous, inviting readers to find depth and meaning in their encounters with the world.
| Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HER EYES by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON HUMAN LIFE by AUBREY THOMAS DE VERE NEW YORK AT NIGHT by AMY LOWELL JUGGLING JERRY by GEORGE MEREDITH STEADFASTNESS; THE LOVER BESEECHETH HIS MISTRESS by THOMAS WYATT FAMILIAR EPISTLE TO A LITTLE BOY by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM |
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