Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Robert Duncan’s "Structure of Rime XXVIII; In Memoriam Wallace Stevens" is a dense, multilayered tribute to Stevens, reflecting on the nature of poetry, imagination, and the tension between idealism and materialism. The poem operates as both a meditation on Stevens’ legacy and an exploration of Duncan’s own poetics, intertwining philosophical musings with abstract and evocative imagery. Duncan’s work honors Stevens’ focus on imagination as a sovereign force, while wrestling with the societal and ideological pressures that poetry must navigate.

The epigraph, a line from William Blake, "That God is colouring Newton doth shew," sets the stage for the poem’s thematic exploration of the interplay between reason and imagination, science and art. Blake’s assertion critiques Newtonian reductionism, suggesting that divine creativity, symbolized by "colouring," transcends mechanistic understanding. This idea resonates throughout Duncan’s poem, where he champions the visionary and imaginative aspects of poetry as a counterforce to the rigid structures of materialist thought.

Duncan begins by positioning himself as a poetic inheritor of Stevens, describing the "Grand Station and Customs" of poetry as a space beyond conventional governance. This space becomes a "Gate" where the heart’s willingness meets the constraints of time. Duncan’s vision of poetry involves creating a structure that resists the "drifts and appearances" of physical space, seeking instead a solidity rooted in the mind’s capacity for imagination. This aligns with Stevens’ emphasis on the transformative power of the imagination to create meaning in a transient and often chaotic world.

The poem’s central metaphor of an angel "weeping and yet ever attending the betrayal of the Word" underscores the spiritual and existential stakes of poetic creation. The angel embodies both the sacred responsibility of the poet and the inevitable failure to fully articulate or preserve the ideal. Duncan connects this betrayal to mortality, acknowledging that death undoes the physical self while preserving the imaginative and intellectual legacy of the poet.

Duncan critiques the "Realists and Materialists" who seek to discredit idealism and imagination, describing them as "Inquisitors of the New Dispensation in Poetry." These figures represent the forces of dogma and orthodoxy, contrasting with the freedom of the imagination. Duncan aligns Stevens with the "Ideal," asserting that his poetry transcends the temporal and material limitations imposed by critics and institutions. The satirical image of the "Chairman of the Politbureau" attempting to quantify and control poetry underscores the futility of reducing artistic expression to mere metrics.

The line "This is to say to the month of April and the rainbow dancer, I am with you" is a direct invocation of Stevens’ spirit, aligning Duncan with the celebratory and visionary aspects of Stevens’ work. The mention of April, a month associated with renewal and poetry (as in T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land), reinforces this connection to creativity and rebirth. The "rainbow dancer" evokes a sense of fluidity and color, echoing the earlier epigraph and emphasizing poetry’s capacity to transcend rigid structures.

Duncan’s assertion, "I belong to the company without number," speaks to his belief in the boundless and unquantifiable nature of poetic imagination. By aligning himself with Stevens, he embraces a legacy of resistance to reductionism and conformity, asserting the necessity of poetry as a space for individual and collective exploration.

The concluding lines, where Duncan references "Asia, the astral miasma," and "the domain of colouring invading the Responsible," return to the tension between imagination and societal constraints. "Asia" and the "astral miasma" evoke a sense of the mystical and the infinite, contrasting with the rational and controlled. The "domain of colouring" symbolizes the transformative power of imagination to challenge and expand the boundaries of the "Responsible," representing societal norms and expectations.

Structurally, the poem mirrors its thematic exploration of boundaries and openness. Duncan’s prose-poetic form allows for fluidity and discursiveness, reflecting the interplay of ideas and imagery. The lack of traditional meter or rhyme reinforces the poem’s rejection of rigid structures, aligning with its celebration of imagination and individual expression.

"Structure of Rime XXVIII; In Memoriam Wallace Stevens" is both a tribute to Stevens and a declaration of Duncan’s own poetic philosophy. Through its exploration of imagination, mortality, and resistance to orthodoxy, the poem honors Stevens’ legacy while asserting the continued relevance of poetry as a transformative and boundary-defying force. Duncan’s work invites readers to reflect on the role of the poet in navigating the tension between the ideal and the material, the timeless and the transient.

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