Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "Cities, Plains and People: 8," Lawrence Durrell offers a poetic meditation on time, solitude, and the enduring interplay between nature, memory, and human experience. The poem weaves together themes of introspection, loss, and the search for meaning, using rich and evocative imagery to explore the landscape of Greece and its symbolic resonance within the narrator's inner world.

The poem opens with a reflection on "Time, the lovely and mysterious," personified as a figure that moves with "promises and blessings." Time is portrayed as a gentle yet unstoppable force, guiding the protagonist through life’s stages, or "swift degrees," towards "the sad perfect wife," "the rocky island," and "the cypress-trees." These images suggest a journey toward something inevitable and possibly melancholic, yet filled with a certain beauty or acceptance. The "sad perfect wife" could symbolize a figure of completeness or fulfillment, tinged with sorrow or the awareness of loss, while the "rocky island" and "cypress-trees" evoke the stark, enduring landscape of Greece, often associated with solitude and contemplation.

Durrell then introduces the idea of being "Taken in the pattern of all solitaries," which suggests that the protagonist is part of a lineage or tradition of those who seek solitude and introspection. Describing the subject as "An only child, of introspection got," Durrell emphasizes a life shaped by internal reflection, where "Her only playmates, lovers, in herself" signals a self-contained existence, perhaps marked by a deep inner life and the absence of external connections. The phrase "Nets were too coarse to hold her" evokes an image of someone who cannot be easily captured or defined, whose essence is too delicate or elusive for conventional understanding.

The poem moves into a depiction of Greece as a calm and eternal presence, "Bearing in rivers upside down / The myrtle and the olive, in ruins / The faces of the innocents in wells." Here, Durrell merges the natural world with the historical and mythological, creating a landscape where the past and present coexist in a reflective, almost dreamlike state. The mention of "Salt and garlic, water and dry bread," and "Greek bread from the comb" suggests a connection to the elemental, the simple sustenance that has sustained generations, as well as the sculptural qualities of the land and its produce, further emphasizing the timelessness of the Greek landscape.

The imagery of "red aerial cherries" and "flawed grapes painted green / But pouted into breasts" introduces a sensual dimension, where natural forms are imbued with human characteristics, blurring the lines between nature and the body. The "great quarries of the blood — / The beating crimson hearts of the grenades" evoke the intensity of life and passion, with "grenades" perhaps metaphorically referring to pomegranates, fruits often associated with fertility and life but also with the underworld and death. These elements are described as being "far beyond the cupidity of verses / Or the lechery of images to tell," suggesting that the essence of these experiences transcends language and artistic representation.

As the poem continues, Durrell reflects on the convergence of "Differences that matched like cloth / Between the darkness and the inner light," where the interplay of light and dark, internal and external, forms a unified experience, moving "on the undivided breath of blue." This image of unity and continuity is reinforced by the presence of "Veins of stealing water / By the unplumbed ruins, never finding peace," which introduces a sense of restlessness and unresolved tension beneath the surface tranquility.

The reference to "Tress here / With your fingers at the temples" and the "blunt uncut horns / Of the small naked Ionian fauns" brings in a mythological element, where the landscape and its inhabitants are imbued with ancient, almost primeval energy. The mention of "fauns," creatures of nature and fertility, underscores the connection between the human and the natural, suggesting a deep, almost instinctual bond with the land.

The poem’s final lines shift to a more personal and poignant reflection, as the narrator envisions "his daughter" walking "in a dark, / Snow-lit landscape." This image contrasts with the earlier sunlit scenes, introducing a moment of clarity or realization in the midst of darkness. The "simile" that comes to mind — "lovers, like swimmers lost at sea, / Exhausted in each other's arms, / Urgent for land, but treading water" — captures the duality of connection and isolation, love and desperation. The lovers are close yet distant, united in their struggle yet unable to find solid ground, mirroring the larger themes of the poem where the search for meaning and fulfillment remains ongoing and unresolved.

In "Cities, Plains and People: 8," Durrell masterfully blends the external landscape with the internal world of the narrator, using Greece as a symbolic backdrop for a meditation on time, memory, and the human condition. The poem’s rich imagery and reflective tone invite the reader to consider the ways in which our surroundings shape our experiences and how the past continues to influence our present, even as we search for resolution and peace in the face of life’s complexities.

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