Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Lynda Hull’s "Aubade" is a poignant meditation on solitude, connection, and the quiet rituals of early morning. Through its exploration of private and shared moments in a sleeping city, the poem delves into the human condition?s tension between isolation and longing for communion. Hull’s evocative imagery and introspective tone render the liminal space of dawn a metaphor for the fragile ties that bind individuals to their lives and to each other.

The poem opens with a description of a pre-dawn cityscape, where the “5:05’s stiff wind snares the whole block in its backlash.” This abrupt gust reflects the unsettling nature of the early hour, a time marked by promise yet shadowed by an undercurrent of disquiet. The “million-dollar dreamers orphaned by love’s chameleon reversals” suggests a cast of insomniacs and wanderers, individuals shaped by hope but haunted by disillusionment. The juxtaposition of potential and despair sets the tone for the speaker’s reflections on their own isolation and the lives of others.

The speaker observes a neighbor performing calisthenics on a fire escape, their actions symbolic of a quiet struggle for self-renewal. The neighbor’s loneliness is palpable; he has returned to “an empty flat,” and that emptiness has become “a dull blade inside his chest.” This shared solitude creates a “silent complicity” between the speaker and the neighbor, unspoken yet deeply felt. Their separate actions—“uproot[ing] dandelions and crabgrass” and “deep knee bends”—become metaphors for efforts to maintain a semblance of control or purpose in the face of life’s uncertainties.

Hull weaves a cinematic quality into the poem, likening the street’s appearance to a “sixteen-millimeter reel.” The jittery, monochromatic imagery evokes a sense of fleeting transience, underscoring the fragility of human connections. In this cinematic light, strangers take on transformative qualities, their faces becoming “the faces of husbands and wives” or the “edgy allure of the dangerous ones.” The speaker is drawn to these possibilities, imagining a bold gesture of connection: “It is I, the one for whom you have been waiting.” Yet this vision remains unfulfilled, highlighting the gulf between desire and action, between the imagined and the real.

The poem’s tone shifts from longing to resignation as the speaker returns to the tangible details of their surroundings. The “snail’s slimy progress” mirrors the slow, deliberate passage of time, while the neighbor’s repetitive exercises become a “contract with himself that gets him through his day.” These mundane actions contrast with the speaker’s yearning for a more profound connection, emphasizing the quiet resilience required to navigate the “business of being human.” The relationship between earth and root, “green pear and empty hand,” serves as a reminder of the delicate interdependence underlying life’s routines, even as those routines remain solitary.

As dawn breaks, the city begins to stir, its rhythms reflected in the arrival of the fruit vendor and the lobster tanks in seafood markets. These ordinary signs of life are tinged with a surreal quality, as seen in the “broken factory clock that registers / 9:99 in the morning.” This detail underscores the disorientation and fragmentation that permeate the poem, as if time itself has been rendered unreliable. The surreal imagery invites the reader to question what these signs signify and how they relate to the speaker’s inner landscape.

The final lines of the poem—“Answer me. What am I to make of these signs?”—encapsulate the speaker’s existential questioning. The plea for meaning reflects a yearning to understand the connections between the self, others, and the larger world. Yet the poem offers no definitive answers, leaving the reader with a sense of unresolved tension. The sleek “gray seam of sky” above the city suggests both possibility and limitation, a horizon that both beckons and eludes.

"Aubade" captures the quiet beauty and melancholy of early morning, transforming ordinary moments into profound reflections on human vulnerability and resilience. Hull’s masterful use of imagery and her ability to evoke the inner lives of her characters make the poem a poignant exploration of the ways we navigate isolation, seek connection, and find meaning in the mundane. The aubade—traditionally a song or poem celebrating the dawn—here becomes a meditation on the fragile, fleeting nature of human existence and the quiet strength required to face each new day.

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