Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Richard Hugo's poem "Art of Poetry" delves into the existential reflections of a character named Sad Raymond, who embodies the struggles and disillusionments inherent in both life and the creative process. Through the repetition of the phrase "Sad Raymond, twice a day the tide comes in," Hugo emphasizes the cyclical nature of Raymond's experiences, suggesting a constant return to his inner turmoil despite the external world's indifferent progression.

The poem opens with an immediate disconnection between reality and fantasy. The "man in the moon" is declared better off not being a man, which establishes a metaphor for Raymond's disillusionment with himself and the world. The man in the moon, traditionally an image of distant and unachievable ideals, symbolizes Raymond's own unreachable desires. Hugo portrays Raymond as someone who glares "across the sea," consumed by resentment and bitterness, particularly towards his own life circumstances and the hysteria of his wife. This paints a picture of a man who is trapped within his own mind, where his fantasies of "painting a private Syria" and imagining "preferred dimensions of girls" are contrasted starkly against the "gulls scar across your fantasy," which serve as a reminder of the intrusive reality he cannot escape.

Hugo further develops the theme of dissatisfaction by contrasting Raymond's internal world with the lives of others he observes. The "homemade heroes" and the "despairing man" represent different aspects of humanity that Raymond envies or pities but ultimately does not connect with. The heroes, content with their simple pleasures and grounded in reality, contrast with Raymond's own dissatisfaction. The man sobbing on the log symbolizes a raw, unfiltered despair that Raymond seems to long for as a more genuine form of suffering than his own. Yet, Raymond's inability to truly relate to either group highlights his alienation.

Throughout the poem, Hugo uses the metaphor of the tide to symbolize the inexorable passage of time and the inevitability of certain life experiences. The tide, coming in "twice a day" and "twice a night," mirrors the unrelenting cycles of Raymond's despair and self-reflection. The tide’s persistence contrasts with Raymond's static existence, where each return of the tide marks another moment of introspection rather than progress. The poem suggests that Raymond's internal struggles are as constant and unchanging as the tides, despite his longing for transformation or escape.

Hugo also touches upon the theme of failed maturation and the consequences of envy. Raymond's memories of "the wrong way maturation came" and his habit of "imitating the voice of every man you envied" illustrate a life spent in the shadow of others, never fully realizing his own identity. This imitation and desire for what others have lead to a profound sense of self-loathing, which is further emphasized by his loathing of "the real horizon." The real horizon represents the tangible world, which Raymond despises because it fails to live up to the idealized versions of life he has created in his mind.

The final stanza of the poem brings the themes of fantasy versus reality, and the passage of time, to a poignant conclusion. The moon, which has been a symbol of unattainable ideals throughout the poem, "loses control" and allows tides to be run by starfish, a whimsical and surreal image that underscores the absurdity of Raymond's internal world. Hugo suggests that Raymond's obsession with the "charts you study mornings on your wall" and his futile search for a man "who's pure in his despair" are distractions from facing the real issues within himself. The final lines, "Better to search your sadness for the man. Sad Raymond, twice a moment tides come in," imply that the answers Raymond seeks are within his own sorrow, yet he remains trapped in his endless cycles of fantasy and despair.

In "Art of Poetry," Hugo uses Sad Raymond as a vehicle to explore the complexities of the human condition, particularly the tensions between fantasy and reality, the passage of time, and the search for identity. The poem’s repetitive structure, anchored by the imagery of the tide, reinforces the inescapable nature of these struggles, leaving Raymond—and perhaps the reader—caught in the relentless ebb and flow of introspection and disillusionment.

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