Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Silence Raving" by Clayton Eshleman is a vivid and complex poem that delves into the primordial connections between human consciousness, language, and nature. Utilizing intense imagery and a deep excavation of primal instincts, Eshleman explores the origins of human creativity and expression, rooted deeply in the elemental and the ancestral.

The poem begins with a disintegration of sound into silence, an "entanglement of sense pools," suggesting a chaotic mixing of sensory experiences that echoes the creation or the very beginnings of perception. Eshleman's reference to "Apollo globes" juxtaposed with this disintegration could symbolize the collapse of ordered, classical beauty into a more primal, raw state of being. This imagery sets the stage for a descent into a symbolic cave, which represents the subconscious or the womb of ancient creativity.

As the poem progresses, the Cro-Magnons, early modern humans, enter the cave "along its wet hide walls," drawn by an unseen force, "as if a flower in, way in, drew their leggy / panspermatic bodies." This description evokes a magnetic pull towards creation and discovery, navigating through the darkness in a manner reminiscent of spiders, which further adds to the sense of primal, instinctive movement. The mention of Persephone and her entrapment by Hades enriches this narrative with themes of cyclical death and rebirth, essential to understanding the transformative power of art and myth.

The Cro-Magnons' encounter with the "fungus pulp of Hades' purple hair" metaphorically exploding in their brains suggests a psychedelic or transcendental experience that radically alters consciousness. This explosion leads to a kind of primordial ritual where they "poured their foreheads into the coals," signifying an intense communion with elemental forces, possibly a ritual of sacrifice or initiation.

The imagery of a "massive vulva incised before the gate" symbolizes a passage through which life and creative power emerge. This power is described as "paradise," a raw, untamed force that these ancient ancestors bequeathed to modern humans—the capacity to transform thought and sensation into symbolic expression, "to make an altar of our throats."

Eshleman connects this ancient ritualistic behavior to the origins of language: "The first words were mixed with animal fat," implying that early human speech was deeply intertwined with physical and survival needs. The wounded men attempting to articulate their assailants represent the struggle to use language as a tool for expressing personal and collective traumas.

The poem closes with a return to the cave, where the walls become almost another entity, "strung / between their teeth." This final imagery suggests that the Cro-Magnons, and by extension all humans, are woven into the very fabric of the natural and metaphysical world they inhabit. The "sticky soul material" they pull to the sides symbolizes the creative process itself—tangible, viscous, and intensely connected to the core of human experience.

In "Silence Raving," Eshleman crafts a densely packed exploration of human origins, art, and the transformation of consciousness through the elemental dance of creation. The poem is a lyrical testament to the profound and often mystical forces that drive human creativity, linking us back to our ancient, cave-dwelling ancestors who first dared to articulate their place in the cosmos.

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